Defying Fate
by FireEdge
Summary: FE9. Astrid escapes the life she dreads by joining Ike and the army. But, what about after the war? Perhaps a certain green haired, squinty eyed mercenary can help. OscarAstrid.
1. Chapter 1

((Re-edited since first upload.))

Haha, I finally stopped being lazy and started a new FE story. Now, this inspiration pretty much came out of nowhere. And the pairing is very random, I know. But, I had a nice plot going in my head and I REALLY like these two characters, so why not? Also, I didn't like any of the available pairings for either of these two characters, so… amuse me, won't you?

Oscar: … Wait, this story is about me?

FireEdge: YUP! You… and ASTRID!

Oscar: O.o

FireEdge: Well, I'm mostly trying to focus on Astrid's (and possibly Oscar's) history/story, so I _think_ the romance would be taking a little more of a backseat. No guarantees, though, since I could change my mind in a snap. Either way, I hope you'll all enjoy this, anyway.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Chapter 1**

_Dear Astrid,_

_I apologize for not writing you sooner, but my husband does not like it when I write to my family or friends. As you know, he fears that I will betray his secrets. Luckily, I was able to send this letter to you in secret when I visited a nearby town. _

_I miss you, Mother, Father and our other siblings very much. I have not heard from either Susan or Diane. I suspect that my husband hid their letters (if there were any) from me. He hardly allows me have any contact with anyone, or anything, outside of the castle. Sometimes, I wonder how different my life would be if I hadn't married Ian._

_You know, he seemed so charming when Mother introduced me to him; even if he was nearly twice my age. He was still handsome, and he was rich and seemed kind enough. However, when we returned to his estates, I soon found out that he is a very possessive person and becomes jealous very easily. That is why I am not allowed out of the grounds or to contact anyone. He is afraid that—because I am young—I will flirt with other men and be unfaithful to him. _

_This has only been my first year with Ian, and I dread to wonder what will happen in the coming decades. Perhaps things will improve… Though, I highly doubt that. Susan's marriage is much worse than mine, I know. At least Ian does not physically abuse me. Diane never did talk much of her life; maybe because she is afraid like I. My wish is that you, Astrid, will not suffer the same fate as we do. _

_Please, try and write to me, dear sister. I would like to hear of how our family fares. Perhaps if your letter is innocent enough, Ian will let me read it. Since Elijah and Joel had joined the Begnion army, I haven't heard any news of them. If you or our parents have received any word of them, please tell me. My heart aches at the thought that either of our brothers might have suffered in battle. _

_Sincerely, your sister, Elizabeth_

Astrid placed the unadorned piece of stationary on her desk, her hand shaking slightly. Closing her eyes, she forced the tears that threatened to flow forth to contain themselves. She bit her lower lip and sat stiffly in her cushioned chair until her emotions were once again under control. It was nearly supper time, and she couldn't risk her mother seeing that she had been weeping.

Pushing her chair back and standing up, she smoothed out the lines in her gown. Looking at her hands, she realized that her hands still shook. Though her sister had not written in detail of her suffering, Astrid easily read between the lines and she could almost _feel_ the pain that beset her sibling.

Of course, this was not the first time that she had had this sort of revelation. Both her other sisters had sent at least one letter to her, describing their new and horrid marriages. Astrid could not surmise why her family was plagued with such misfortune. All her three elder sisters were possessed by terrible husbands and one of her twin brothers, Elijah, had lost an arm while serving the army.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her bedroom door. Swiftly, she grabbed to letter and its envelope and hid it under a stack of books in a drawer. Only when she closed it and calmed her nerves did she open the door.

The servant girl before her bowed slightly and told her that supper was ready and awaited her in the dining hall.

"Thank you, I'll be down in a moment." Shutting the door, she waited for the servant's footsteps to fade down the corridor.

Letting out a sigh, she strode to her desk once more. Opening the same drawer, she pulled out several sheets of papers. Each was a letter from one of sisters. Staring at them, Astrid once again drifted off into thought.

When she had received this letter from Elizabeth last week, the noblewoman had come to a verdict: she would _not_ succumb to the same fate as her sisters. Astrid was nineteen years of age and more than ready to be married off. She was lucky that she was still unmarried. Not lucky enough however; a few months ago—following her birthday—her mother had found her a fiancé.

His name was Raul, and he was a baron of a rather large estate. She had met him on numerous occasions, and he proved himself to be a quiet and polite man. However, he was nearing forty-two and his servants were always silent and refused to speak of him. No matter how much she asked them to tell her about how he was like on his estates, they always excused themselves and walked away. That alone made her suspicious, doubled with the fact that she knew better than to judge by what a nobleman said and did in front of other nobles. Her sisters were proof enough of that.

However, Astrid could not find a solution to her problem. How could she escape her fate—short of killing herself? She had racked the question for days now, and finally had found an answer. She would follow the example of her brothers and enrol in the Begnion army.

Steeling herself, she prepared her mind and her speech that she would deliver to her parents. No matter what they said, she was determined to go through with this. It was the only way she saw that could help her escape.

---

Tears rolling down her cheeks, Astrid finished packing her bags. Her hands shook once more as she stripped off her clothing and donned her riding breeches and her hunting tunic. Pulling on white gloves that stretched to her elbows, she laced up her sturdy, white riding boots. She strapped on the light armour that had belonged to Joel when he was younger. It fit quite well and was easy to move in. Lastly, she picked up her bow and quiver.

It was the only weapon she knew how to wield—since she had taken up archery lessons a few years ago to pass the time. Her marksmanship was pretty good, also, since she went hunting with her brothers before they joined the army three years ago.

Wiping the last remains of the salty liquid that stained her face, Astrid picked up her belongings and strode out the door.

Her talk with her parents had turned out much better than she had expected. Of course, her mother exploded at her decision, but after some words from her father her anger had slowly abided. Her father had reluctantly let her go, only because he had thought that she was going through some 'phase' brought on by Elijah's injury. Though he didn't show it, she knew that he thought that she would return within a week.

Either way, she knew that she had to leave immediately and attempt to be relocated to a more distant training camp. That way, if her parents decided to change their mind about letting her go, they would never find her. Another danger was her fiancé. There was always a chance that he'd interfere.

Arriving at the stables, she carefully saddled and bridled her mare. Tying her bags behind her saddle, she pulled herself up and trotted out of the gates of her family's lands. She let herself look back once before she galloped down the road. There were no regrets in her heart.

---

Astrid collapsed onto her cot in the dreary room of the soldier's barracks. She could hardly believe that it had been already six months since she had left home. Time had passed so quickly.

Her training here had been rigorous and hard; especially for her. Many of the other female recruits were stronger and more adept with their arms since they were usually former farmers. Astrid's body wasn't used to vigorous activity, though her horsemanship was exceptionally good.

However, after all these months, she had improved noticeably. Her endurance and strength had increased and so had her skill with the bow. She had also learned how to ride and fully utilize the skills of a war horse.

Astrid was, simply put, proud of herself. She had proved her parents wrong; she had _not_ come back crying after a week. And better yet, she was finally finished her training. The black-haired noble was almost positive that they would soon dispatch her to fight. While she was not eager to kill, the thought that she could finally _prove_ herself very much appealed to her. Unfortunately, that dream wouldn't be realized.

Despite the freedom she had finally gained, her family had still managed to find a way to haunt her. This time, she could not escape. Baron Raul had found out about her escapade and demanded that they bring her back into the safety of her home. He would not allow his future wife to be put in harms way because she was acting like a silly girl.

So, her hard-earned liberty was now lost. She was to take the boat that her parents had booked and return home as soon as possible. If she didn't obey, she'd probably be taken home by force.

If that wasn't bad enough, they had hired a mercenary to protect her while she was abroad. Astrid had just trained in the Begnion army! Didn't they think that she could at least take care of herself? Anyway, she was only taking a short boat ride home. It would only take a week or so to reach the port nearest her family's estates; why in the world would she _need_ a bodyguard for?

Standing up, Astrid began to resignedly pack away her belongings. No matter how ridiculous everything was, she had no choice but to go along with it. Maybe she couldn't avoid her fate after all.

---

Why won't the stupid rulers work! Now I have to use "---" instead... Er... Ahem, well, that's the end of the first chapter. Sorry that it's so short. It seemed appropriate to end it where it was, though. Just think of it like some sort of prologue… I was going to write a bit more about her training, but that wasn't appealing to me and I couldn't do it. No worries, though; next chapter will be much longer… I hope… Anyway, I shall be introducing Ike and company next time, so things should be much more exciting.

Oscar: Ah… that means that I'll be appearing next chapter?

FireEdge: That's right! Hehehehe.

Oscar: O.o Please review.

--FireEdge--


	2. Chapter 2

Well, here I am with an update! This was uploaded much sooner than I thought it would be.

Oscar: Yes, and that's a good thing.

FireEdge: It may not always be this way, though. But, on the other hand, I have a feeling that this shall be a long fic… So many ideas.

Oscar: O.o Why are you looking at me with that evil glint in your eye?

FireEdge: What evil glint? Muahahahah!

Oscar: O.O

FireEdge: Not to worry, my dear Oscar. Nothing major will happen to you this chapter, or the next one. But, something will happen EVENTUALLY!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Chapter 2**

Astrid sighed, her crossed arms leaning on the wooden edge of the ship. She could just see the outline of trees and houses in the distance, and a few birds flew in the sky. The weather was very pleasant today; sunny and breezy. However, her mood was nothing like the climate.

Just two days ago, she had met her bodyguard. He was a proficient mercenary that went by the name Gatrie. Actually, he wasn't as bad as she thought he'd be. At first Astrid had imagined that he would be a crude and filthy man who cared for naught but money. Gatrie turned out to be quite a charming gentleman. He was rather kind and very amusing.

Though she did not mind the knight, she _did_ mind the ship they were in. She had thought that her parents were booking some luxury passenger navel. It turns out that they had booked her on the _apostle's_ ship!

Really! What difference was there between this ship and another one? Sure, there were more guards, but quantity wasn't everything! Astrid did not enjoy the attention that she garnered aboard, either. She had been so used to being addressed as a normal soldier, that she had almost forgotten that she was a noble. Now, everywhere she turned, people called her 'Lady Astrid'.

At least she was able to take the war horse that she was given as a trainee. She had grown quite attached to it and she liked to spend time below deck grooming her steed. In fact, she was on her way there when suddenly the large vessel lurched and she nearly lost her footing.

Eyes wide, Astrid turned around to see another ship coming towards them. They had launched a ballista of some sort into the side of the ship and were using it to pull themselves towards them. It seemed that they were going to try and board their ship.

Astrid wasted no time running to her room; not to hide, but to grab her equipment. Luckily, she was wearing her riding clothes and not a dress—saving her time—and it didn't take her long to strap on her light armour. Picking up her bow and attaching her quiver to her waist, she raced out of the door.

The young noblewoman debated on whether or not to retrieve her horse. It would give her an advantage, but she didn't want her steed to be injured on the bad footing of the ship's deck. After a moment of analyzing the enemy, she decided that it would probably be better to fetch her warhorse.

By the time that she had saddled up her horse and led it up to the deck, the enemy ship had already started throwing planks across the distance between them. She could see that there were also crow laguz floating lazily in the air.

"Where on earth is the holy guard? Between those crows and the pirates, we're outnumbered! It's only a matter of time before we're overwhelmed," Astrid overheard one of the soldiers exclaim.

"I will fight, too," she said to the other soldier. The man turned around and looked at her in surprise.

"Y-you… You're one of the passengers from House Damiell, aren't you?" She nodded in reply. His surprise was soon replaced by a dutiful pride. "I can't permit someone of your stature to throw herself into harm's way!"

"I was once a knight of Begnion, albeit for only a short while… I won't get in your way," Astrid persisted. She _had_ to convince this man to let her fight. There was no way that she could just hide below deck and cower!

"No, I can't—" Before the solder finished his sentence, an idea in Astrid's mind clicked.

"We must defend the apostle, right?" Astrid looked at him, daring him to question that. "We do not have the luxury of choosing how to do so. Come, we must get ready. The enemy is coming!"

The soldier faltered for a moment, at a loss for words. But, finally he shook his head in disbelief and agreed with her. With an apology, he assigned her a post and took off.

As she started off to where she was assigned, Astrid heard the loud clanging of armour behind her. Turning around, she saw Gatrie racing towards her.

"Lady… Astrid!" Gatrie panted, finally reaching her. "Allow… Allow me to serve… as your shield!" Astrid smiled, looking at the knight.

"Gatrie… I'm so sorry that I've gotten you involved in this, too…" she said with a weak smile. "I just want to prove that I don't always need to be protected."

"Oh, please! This is nothing. I'm fine!" he replied, with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Before I was hired as your bodyguard, I was a top-notch mercenary! I can handle this many opponents all by myself. This is nothing."

"Is that so?" Astrid asked, her eyes widening. It was a mighty boast, but she wouldn't really be surprised if it was true. Gatrie _did_ look very strong. "Your confidence is impressive, to say the least…"

"Tee hee! Well… trust me, my confidence is backed with my blade! I'm ready to fight!" With that, the knight stationed himself in front of Astrid. Anyway who tried to go after her, would have to go through _him_ first!

---

"Oh!" Astrid exclaimed as her horse suddenly leapt out of the way of a javelin. The movement had caught her off guard and she lost her balance. Her free hand managed to grasp the thick mane of her horse, while her other hand gripped her bow.

Struggling to pull herself up, Astrid wasn't aware of the pirate that was slowly sneaking up on her from her exposed side. Her horse whinnied loudly, warning her, but in her current position, there would be no way for her to counter.

"Hey! Watch out!" a masculine voice called from nearby. The next instance, another horse had situated itself between her and the enemy. A cry of pain issued from the pirate, followed by the thump of a body.

By now, she had fully recovered. Her saviour turned around to look at her. Astrid's mouth opened to thank him, but nothing came out. She was stunned by his eyes. They seemed to be shut, but now that that she looked carefully, she realized that he was squinting.

"Are you all right?" the lance knight in front of her asked. Astrid shook her head and gathered her wits. What was she doing? Gaping like that! She had been raised better!

"I'm fine. Thank you… Sir…?"

"Oscar. Just Oscar," he replied. Before she could say anything else, the green-haired man turned his head. "Tsk, more enemies are headed this way. Watch out for yourself, okay?" Nudging his horse, he took off.

"Lady Astrid!" Gatrie cried, coming up to her. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to protect you! That one archer just had to keep running off, and I strayed from your side—"

"It's all right, Gatrie," she replied with a smile. "The man there, Oscar he said his name was, helped me out."

"Oh… Well, that's good," the knight replied slowly, a funny look on his face. "Well, he is a very good fighter. Though, not as good as me, of course! But, not to worry; I'll make sure that I stay near you from now on."

"Thank you, Gatrie," Astrid said. The knight grinned and turned back to face the next pirate, while the bow knight secured herself better in her saddle.

That mistake was amateurish and had almost cost her life. She had learned during her training to always stay seated in her saddle and not fall off when her horse made a sudden movement. It looked as if she'd need much more practice.

Closing her eyes for a moment to clear her head, she inhaled and exhaled slowly. Opening them again, she looked at her enemies with determination. Drawing her bow, she let loose her arrow at a nearby pirate. Quickly, she nocked another arrow and shot again, killing the enemy.

As the man fall down on his knees, lifeless, Astrid looked away. That was the second man that she had killed today. Still, she could not look at the dead body. She doubted that she would ever be able to.

---

A delighted smile graced Astrid's face as she groomed her horse. The battle had just ended a little while ago, and the apostle had been found. Now, the ship was headed back to the capital; and so was she.

Just a handful of minutes before, she had talked to Commander Ike. Her first impressions of him were true; he was a kind and good man. When the noblewoman had asked to join him, he had not hesitated to agree. Now, she had a reason to not return home.

When they reached Sienne, she would write to her parents and explain to them that she would not be coming home just yet. There wasn't anything that they—or Raul—could do to bring her back. By staying with Ike and his mercenaries, she could learn to be a better fighter and get stronger.

Patting her horse once more, Astrid put her things away and returned to her room. Once inside, she quickly washed away the grime and sweat that had accumulated during the fight. She set her armour down on her bed, glad to be free of the heavy metal; though she still wore the guards on her legs and her gauntlets. In case there was another attack, she didn't want to be bothered to have to put those on, too. Exchanging her sweat-soaked tunic for a clean one, she walked out.

Most of the mercenaries had stayed on their own boat, though a handful of them—along with Ike and Princess Elincia—had moved over to theirs. Since she'd be working with them from now on, Astrid wanted to meet them at least.

"Lady Astrid!" a familiar voice called. Astrid turned around and was greeted by the recurring sight of Gatrie running towards her.

"Ah, Gatrie; just who I was looking for," she greeted. "I was wondering if you could introduce me to some of the members of this group. I'd like to know who I will be fighting alongside."

"Oh! Uh, sure thing!" the knight replied. "Though, I should tell you that I don't know everyone. There are a lot of new people."

"That's all right," Astrid said, following the knight as the two of them returned to the deck.

"Hmm, it looks like only a few of them came over onto this ship," Gatrie remarked, scanning the spacious deck. "Some of them could be in one of the cabins, though… Titania and Soren are probably with Ike… Aha! There's Mist and Rolf!"

Gatrie strode over to the two figures of a young brunette and a small green-haired boy. As they approached, the two children looked up and smiled.

"Gatrie!" Mist cried, hugging him once he stood in front of her. "It's so good to see you!"

"We thought that you'd never come back!" Rolf added with a vigorous nod.

"Well, I thought that you guys would need my help… But, mostly I'm here because my new employer has decided to grace Ike with her aid," he said with a big grin. Motioning to Astrid, he stepped aside so that the two youngsters could see her. "This is Lady Astrid. I'm her bodyguard!"

"I-It's nice to meet you, Lady Astrid!" Mist said, a little nervous. She never did have much experience with nobility—next to Elincia. "I'm Mist, and this is Rolf."

"The pleasure is mine. Please, we're comrades now; don't call me 'Lady' Astrid. Just Astrid is fine," she replied with a sincere smile. It seemed that this made Mist less nervous. Mist returned the gesture and nodded.

Looking at Rolf, Astrid thought that he looked very familiar. She thought it was the way his face was shaped. Who did he remind her of? Before she could ask, another voice interrupted.

"Rolf! HEY, PEEWEE!" A tall young man with dark green hair held up by a head band appeared from below. Rolf squirmed around them and ran towards the red-clad newcomer.

"I said NOT to call me PEEWEE!" he yelled as he neared him. Rolf tackled Boyd around the waist playfully and Boyd ground his fist in the younger boy's head.

"Calm down, you two," said another voice from behind the axe-wielder.

"Oh!" Astrid exclaimed under her breath as Oscar emerged from the shadows of the doorway. It seemed Mist heard, however.

"That's Oscar, and that other one is Boyd. They're all brothers," the young cleric explained.

"That's why Rolf looked familiar. He looks a bit like his brother," she said.

"Yup. Let's go introduce you to them properly," Gatrie replied with a nod. The blond knight led her towards the bickering trio, Mist following them.

"Boyd!" Mist called.

"Oh, hey Mist," he replied, letting go of Rolf. Released from the headlock, Rolf's face turned back to its normal pallor. "Who's this?"

"My name is Astrid. It's a pleasure to meet you," Astrid said, holding out a hand. Boyd gripped it and gave it a firm shake. He seemed to be about her age, maybe a year or two younger.

"The name's Boyd!"

"So, your name is Astrid, is it?" Oscar spoke up from beside Boyd. "Hopefully, you remember my name, still?"

"Yes, of course! You saved my life, good sir!" Astrid answered. The green-haired man smiled.

"I told you, there's no 'sir' to me at all. I was a Crimean knight once, but now I'm just a plain mercenary."

"Er… right…" the noblewoman replied a bit awkwardly.

"Really, Oscar!" Gatrie exclaimed. "Lady Astrid here is giving you her heartfelt thanks and all you can say is that she needn't call you 'sir'? It's no wonder you have no luck with women!"

"Wh-What?" stammered the lance knight, completely aghast. "Well, I didn't know she was a noble! And what do you mean I can't get a woman? At least I don't flirt with every girl I see!"

"Please, it's not a problem. While I'm here, I'd prefer not to be known as noble-born," Astrid interrupted. She had a feeling that if she didn't say something to distract them that they would continue to argue.

"C'mon you guys!" Mist piped in. "Is this the way to give an impression to one of our new members?"

"Ah, right. Sorry you had to see that," apologized Oscar, his face looking ashamed.

"Lady Astrid! Please don't listen to anything this oaf has to say! It's all lies!" Gatrie said instead, causing Oscar to look at him with his mouth agape.

"Okay! Time to go!" Boyd announced loudly. "We have to work on that technique, don't we, Oscar?" Before his older brother could protest, Boyd had shoved him down the stairs and grabbed Rolf by the collar. For once, it seemed his and Oscar's roles had reversed.

"Hee hee," Mist giggled. "I wonder what's up with Oscar. He's been pretty edgy today. Usually Boyd's the one who gets out of control."

"Perhaps he's ill?" suggested Astrid tentatively.

"Oh, no! He rarely gets sick. Maybe he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed today."

"Bah! That's probably why he was spewing lies about me!" Gatrie added. Mist rolled her eyes.

"Well, it doesn't look like _you_'ve changed, Gatrie," the cleric replied with a laugh. To Astrid, she added in a whisper: "Gatrie's always like that. He's a little 'sensitive' when people talk about his flirtatiousness!"

"I can _hear_ you, Mist! Geez, you must learn your manners from your brother!"

"Aw, I'm not as bad as Ike!"

Astrid grinned. She wasn't sure what to say about the revelation of Gatrie's nature—she, personally, didn't think that he was a womanizer. However, meeting with a handful of the mercenaries did give her an idea of how her journey would be like. It would be very enjoyable.

---

Okay, all done! Like I said, I made it much longer than the other one so I don't feel bad. I _think_ I kept everyone IC, minus Oscar. If I didn't, though, someone tell me.

Oscar: I don't act like that…

FireEdge: Don't, worry, Oscar. It's only for this chapter. You'll be back to your normal self next time. Everyone has an off day, and Gatrie was teasing you.

Oscar: …

FireEdge: Anyway, you'll find out why Oscar was easily annoyed next time!

Oscar: You mean there's a reason!

FireEdge: Of course there is, silly! So, please review!

--FireEdge--


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, I'm back with another update! Sorry it took so long, I've been busy with back to school things. Either way, here it is.

Oscar: Why am I scared to see what happens in this chapter?

FireEdge: … Because it involves you?

Oscar: Thought so.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Chapter 3**

"Boyd! Stop pushing me!" Oscar cried as his younger brother shoved him further down the stairs. He had tripped many times and nearly fell. Of course, he wasn't listening and only responded with another shove on Oscar's back. This time, he collided with a wall.

"Oops, sorry," Boyd apologized, dropping Rolf down beside them. The younger boy glared at his sibling and proceeded to fix his shirt collar—which had been half choking him.

"What was that all for?" the green-haired lance knight demanded as they recovered.

"Well, you seemed to be getting a little irritated, so I thought it would be better if you… disappeared," Boyd said with a shrug. Oscar sighed, slapping his face with a hand and letting it slide down.

"I… suppose that Gatrie _was_ getting on my nerves a little… Thanks Boyd," he replied after a moment of thought. The other young man grinned toothily.

"YES! Finally! For once, it wasn't _me_ that had to be dragged out of a sticky mess!"

"Yeah, for _once_!" Rolf laughed, sticking out his tongue. Boyd looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Wanna say that again, peewee?"

"So, _what_ were you saying, Boyd?" asked Oscar, feeling the mood lift again. He really was glad that his brothers could cheer him up so easily. "Well, anyway, I have to get going. It's nearly dinner time and Mist needs a hand with the cooking."

"Yeah! You're cooking! What are you making?" Rolf cheered, jumping up and down with joy.

"Rolf, you're going to fall if you keep doing that. Ah… I'm not too sure; depends on what ingredients we have," replied Oscar, heading to the ship's kitchen. He couldn't wait to see it. The apostle's ship was much bigger than theirs, and he knew that they could probably find better items to cook with.

_Hmm… How are we going to get the food to the other ship…? Maybe Marcia and Jill could fly it over…_ he mused to himself as he walked. Either way, he was just glad that he could do something to calm his nerves. Cooking, to him, was very relaxing.

This entire day had turned out rather awfully. He was awakened this morning by a fairly large lurch by the ship and subsequently tossed out of his bed. Then when he had washed up, Kieran had confronted him and started yelling his head off about something—he couldn't really remember since he had still been half asleep.

After getting away from Kieran, Boyd had come to pester him about their 'unstoppable killer attack'. They had only discussed the idea a few days ago, and Boyd had expected him to have come up with a plan already? How did his brother expect him to think up anything on a boat without any resources?

All of the above had simply put Oscar in an exasperated mood. He wasn't really irritated yet, but still a little bit on edge. However, the battle hadn't really improved his temper. His horse had suffered a minor injury during the fight, and had nearly broken it's foreleg on the slippery and unstable surface of the ship. The fact that his steed had almost been made lame had really worsened his disposition for the day.

Then, they saw Gatrie again. Actually, Oscar was glad to see him; it was always nice to know that a former companion was alive and kicking. Of course, Gatrie had to do something stupid. Oscar rarely became cross at the knight, annoyed sometimes, but he didn't think that he had ever snapped at the blond man like he did today.

The emerald-haired mercenary was not proud of what he had done. After all, Gatrie had only tried to defend his new employer. However, it seemed to Oscar that Gatrie was prodding at a long forgotten issue that had ensued between them.

It had taken place a little over two years ago. There had been a small village nearby that they usually visited to buy supplies. Gatrie had especially liked to go there for he had fancied a girl living in the village. Unfortunately, when Oscar visited once, the girl fell for him. He wasn't looking for any relationship and he wasn't interested, but the girl didn't care. Every time he went to their village, she always met up with him and followed him around. Of course, this made Gatrie very jealous. For awhile, he would constantly try and embarrass Oscar and play tricks on him. The knight had even spread a few rumours.

Eventually, the girl had heard some of the rumours and gave up on Oscar, much to his relief. She later agreed to go out with Gatrie, and so the knight was happy again. He apologized to Oscar afterwards and in the end made it up to him. So, Oscar assumed that they were friends again. After today, though, he wondered if Gatrie still harboured a tiny bit of envy towards him.

The lance knight certainly hoped not; despite it all, Gatrie was a friend. The knight was a fun person to be around, but he became jealous easily—though it could be very short-lived. Oscar had a feeling that Gatrie was attracted to Astrid, his new employer. He also had a feeling that Gatrie thought that he would try and win over Astrid. In fact, he didn't just have feeling about it; he _knew_ it to be true.

Oscar frowned unconsciously; this situation was starting to become very stressing. He had to find some way to prove to Gatrie that he wasn't interested in his employer. The only reason that he had saved her from that oncoming pirate and captured her attention—which _he_ knew wasn't the love kind—was because she was an ally.

The frown on Oscar's face deepened. He had just remembered something. The green-haired man had had a disturbing dream last night. It had been rather lengthy, and he couldn't remember it all. However, there had been one part that was drilled into his head.

He had been locked up in a dungeon cell. The cell had been rather clean, though dreary, so he knew that it was probably a dungeon in some rich lord's mansion and not a prison. There had been no guard and he was alone.

Then, he had heard footsteps running down the nearby staircase. A woman walked up to the bars and whispered his name. He had then crawled up to her—he realized at that point that he was bruised and battered. Though he could not see the woman's face or features, he did see tears running down her face.

After that, he could not remember anything else. He didn't know what the dream had meant, but he certainly hoped that that was all it was; a dream. Oscar had no intention of getting himself locked up somewhere, or getting beaten up as badly as his dream self had been. Though, he _did_ wonder who that woman was.

"Oscar!" He turned around to see Mist running towards him.

"Sorry, I was so busy talking to Astrid and Gatrie that I nearly forgot that it was time to cook!" the young girl said with a sheepish smile.

"It's all right, we still have time," he replied, continuing to walk again. "So, how is Gatrie?"

"He's back to normal again. I don't know why he was acting up so much, he's not usually so bad—even when it involves girls," Mist said with a giggle. "Oh well, that's Gatrie for you."

"I suppose so."

---

Three days ago, the two ships had docked in at one of Begnion's port towns. A few hours past, they had marched into Sienne, Begnion's lavish capital city. The mercenaries had been provided with large comfortable rooms within the Mainal temple, and were given precious time to themselves as their commander and employer attended a parley with Sanaki.

Each mercenary occupied him or herself with various activities. Gatrie contented himself with flirting and admiring the palace maids; Mist and Rolf set about to exploring the enormous temple; the laguz were prowling the training grounds and some were just resting in their rooms.

Oscar, however, was doing something that he didn't usually do; visit the library. The Mainal cathedral housed one of the largest collections of books and manuscripts in the city; apparently, the apostle enjoyed her literature.

The only reason that the lance knight was headed there was for research—and a lack of anything to do. He had decided that he'd better start finding ideas about that 'unstoppable killer attack' before Boyd started jumping down his throat again. What better way to find a strong technique than to read about them?

Opening the door to what he assumed was the library—the servant had _said_ that it was the large red doors—he stepped inside. He came upon a giant room with shelves upon shelves of books lining the walls and labelled boxes of scrolls sitting in the corners. In the middle of the room were large plush rugs and long, low tables with cushioned chairs. A servant walked back and forth, dusting ledges and rearranging books.

Oscar walked up slowly towards the servant, tapping him on the shoulder. The man whirled around and blinked several times. He was clearly surprised at seeing someone who looked more used to arms rather than books in the library. Shaking his head, the servant came to his senses and bowed politely.

"Good afternoon, sir. Can I help you?"

"Ah, yes… I'm looking for a book about battle techniques or anything related to that," Oscar said slowly, not entirely sure himself exactly what he was looking for.

"Hmmm…." The servant walked over to a bookcase on the other side of the room, scanning the shelves with his dark eyes and tapping one finger to his lips. "I think what you might be looking for is located on these two shelves. The apostle is more interested in history, but she does like to dabble in everything."

"Thank you very much," replied Oscar, turning his attention to the two rows of books. Looking at the spines, the green-haired knight picked out a few volumes.

Sitting himself down at a nearby table, he began to skim through the four tomes he had picked out. Upon reading a few sheets of the first book, Oscar found himself entranced by the pages. Before long, he was reading avidly.

He had long lost track of time, and evening soon came. Oscar didn't notice until the servant had interrupted him and told him the time. The lance knight had finished only one of the books, but luckily the library keeper was kind enough to lend him the other volumes until his stay expired.

Tucking the other three books under his arm, he thanked the man again and quickly made his way down the long high-ceilinged corridors. Oscar was intent on returning to his room and finishing the book, which he was currently in the middle of, by the end of the evening. Who would have thought that he'd find battle strategies so interesting? It seemed something more Soren-like than anything.

Passing next to an open courtyard, Oscar stopped. He thought that he had just heard a bow being fired. Was one of the Begnion soldiers training or was Rolf out here somewhere?

His curiosity getting the better of him, Oscar stepped out from under the eaves of the hallway and stepped softly into the courtyard. Coming around a tall hedge, he saw an arrow lodge itself into the trunk of a tree—three or four other arrows speckled its bark. However, rather than his previous two guesses, the wielder of the bow was none other than Astrid.

Oscar stared on for a few moments before backing away quietly. She had looked very concentrated and he didn't want to disturb her. He hadn't known that she was so dedicated to getting better. In a way, she sort of reminded him of Rolf. His youngest brother was always practicing and trying to get better.

"Oscar?" The green-haired lance knight turned around; he had already reached the hallway, and the voice wasn't Astrid's. A moment later, Gatrie emerged from the shadows of the corridor.

"What were you looking at?"

"Uh…" Oscar fumbled for something to say, but he just wasn't sure _what_. "Go take a look for yourself?"

With a shrug, Gatrie took a peek into the courtyard. He was gone for a moment, but returned almost immediately. A content and blissful look adorned his face.

"Ah, isn't she such an angel? So devoted to her art; practicing into the wee hours of the night!" Gatrie sighed. "Wasn't she splendid?"

"Er, I suppose so. She is pretty skilled with a bow; I'm sure she'll become very accomplished," answered the lance knight tentatively. The blue-clad knight hardly seemed to notice however, and continued to talk.

"So beautiful; her skin glowing under the moonlight, the stars shining down on her lustrous raven hair," Gatrie rambled on.

"Um, the sun just barely set; I don't think the moon is even _out_ yet, let alone the stars," Oscar muttered, frowning. The situation was quite awkward, and he was anxious to leave. The last thing he wanted was Astrid to hear them talking and to happen upon them. "I think that I have to g—"

"She is filled with a radiant splendour, is she not?" the knight asked, cutting him off.

"Uh… yeah, sure. But I really have to ge—"

"AH HA!" Gatrie exclaimed, interrupting Oscar once more. "You admit it! You _do_ have your eyes on her! I knew that you'd pull something like this on me for a second time I thought that you said you were my friend, and that you wouldn't do something of the sorts ever again!" Was it just him, or was Gatrie starting to act like Kieran?

"What are you talking about?" Oscar demanded, feeling anger rise in his voice. He didn't _want_ to be crossed at Gatrie, but the knight was pushing it by bringing that up. "I'm not doing anything, let alone that! I _had _to say that, you were basically asking me to confirm it for you. It wasn't like I had anything else to say!"

"Ah… Excuse me?" a new voice cut in. The two men whirled around to see Astrid behind them. It was obvious that she would've heard their arguing.

"L-Lady Astrid! Did I disturb your practice! I'm dreadfully sorry!" Gatrie spluttered, shoving Oscar aside and striding towards her. "I was just _talking_ to Oscar over here, and we just got a little excited."

"I'd say," mumbled the green-haired man under his breath. "I'd love to stay and chat, really, but I think I should go." With that, Oscar trotted off rapidly. He did not slow down until he had reached the hall where his room was situated.

Entering his room, he shut the door tight and sat down on his bed with a sigh. _That_ certainly wasn't how he had imagined his day would end like. Why did Gatrie have to be so stubborn anyway? It wasn't _his_ fault that that incident had happened all those years ago. It wasn't happening again either; the blond knight was just being short-sighted!

"Haaa… Well, I guess there's not much I can do about it except to avoid the both of them…" Reaching beside him, he opened the book that he had previously started and let himself clear his mind on the pages.

Unfortunately, tonight just wasn't going his way. A few pages in, he found the attack that the three brothers had been looking for. Normally, this would be a good thing. However, the passage dictated that the trio of attacking units must all wield the same weapon. Moreover, the most suitable weapon for the three of them was… a bow.

"It just _had_ to be a bow, didn't it?" Oscar muttered to himself. He knew that it would make the most sense since Rolf was an archer and it wouldn't be too hard for Boyd and himself to pick archery up—and axes and lances were pretty much out of the question for Rolf anyway. But, it _did_ bring back the memories of only a few minutes ago.

That wasn't the biggest issue, though. Oscar was thinking of the fact that he rode a horse. Archery on foot would be easy for him to learn—with Rolf instructing him—but on horseback was a different story. Very conveniently, Astrid popped into his head.

"… Rolf it is."

---

Haha, sorry for the choppy ending. I'll delve into it a bit better the next few chapters. And, as you can see, I kinda started up that second "3 Brothers" thing a little bit earlier than the game. Oh well.

Oscar: … I have nothing to say.

FireEdge: Awww, you don't? I think I wrote you pretty well.

Oscar: Please review so that this story goes by faster!

--FireEdge--


	4. Chapter 4

Heeey, once again I'm here with an update that's… very, very late. Sorry! I've been bogged down with so many assignments recently! School's being a real pain this year, so my updates will be slow.

Oscar: So, please be patient!

FireEdge: Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Chapter 4**

Oscar sighed. He was dead tired. For nearly two weeks now, they had been running 'errands' for the apostle, and they all just happened to involve huge fights. On the bright side, it _was_ for a good cause. Though it was a dirty job, they were helping the apostle root out the illegal laguz slavers.

During the course of those fights, they had managed to recruit some more people to join them. After all, now that the fights were getting tougher, they needed as many people as they could get. Though, some of them were questionable. Makalov, for example.

He had only joined the mercenaries for a week, and Ike and Soren had already found him pulling some stupid stunts; like trying to sneak out to go to the local tavern. Then he had tried to sell off some of their supplies to a pawn shop to make some extra gold. Unfortunately for him, Soren had caught him red-handed. Being Soren, the mage had scorched Makalov's bottom with a Fire spell and that had been the end of those exploits.

The sword knight had some bad traits, but he still fought well enough and that was all that really mattered. Either way, now that he had stopped acting like a fool, he was much easier to work with.

Grabbing the iron bow that Rolf had given him, Oscar slung it over his shoulder and walked out into the hall. Rolf had already drilled him in everything that he knew, and Oscar now understood all of the basics of archery. All he had to work on now, was his proficiency… and the horseback part.

His ability would improve with practice, but shooting from horseback was proving to be a harder challenge. Oscar had already tried it, actually. It hadn't ended up too well. At first his horse was confused about the bow, and was nervous when Oscar mounted with it. Then, the lance knight had difficulty wielding it from his perch. He was constantly slanting to one side when he was drawing back on the bowstring despite how tight his legs gripped the side of his saddle.

Oscar strode down the corridors swiftly, making his way to the training grounds. His horse was still tired from the fight at Duke Tanas' villa, and he didn't want to exhaust the poor beast. So, tonight he would work on his aim.

As the lance knight approached the small shooting gallery, he saw a lone figure in white standing near the opening. Oscar stopped in his tracks and gulped.

The person there was Astrid. She was the last person he wanted to run into; especially when he was on his way to practice with a bow. He didn't want her to laugh at his pathetic skills and he also didn't want Gatrie to find out that he had been anywhere near her.

He had just decided to turn back and return to his room when Astrid had spotted him. Oscar didn't seem to have very good luck these days.

"Oh! Oscar!" Astrid called, walking towards him. She had her bow and quiver with her. "Why are you here? Ah, is that a bow?"

"Astrid! Did you just finish practicing?" he asked instead. _Please say 'yes',_ he prayed inwardly.

"No, I just arrived. I was thinking of shooting for a little bit before I retired," she replied. Once again, the noblewoman eyed the bow that Oscar was carrying. "Are you trying your hand at archery?"

"Er… Well, I thought that I might pick up another weapon, and why not a bow?" Oscar said deliberately. The other reason he had decided to try a bow was for that attack that he had read about in the book he had borrowed from the library. He hadn't told his brothers yet; he thought that he should try and improve his skills first. Rolf hadn't thought it suspicious either, so it was all good.

"Oh, well that's admirable. I wish I could learn another weapon; I can barely just wield a bow. Maybe then I could be of more use on the battlefield," she answered with a smile.

"What? Barely wield a bow? How could you say that? You're very talented," replied Oscar, a little surprised at her insecurity. Or maybe she was just modest?

The young woman blushed slightly at the praise. Oscar, on the other hand, blanched. He had just realized that he had complimented her. Also, she had blushed at it. No, this was _not_ good! If Gatrie found out about this, their already rickety friendship was going to go overboard.

"Thank you, but really, I'm just a beginner," Astrid said with another modest smile. "Ah, would you care to practice with me?"

Oscar stared at her for a moment. Great; she just had to pop the question that would seal his fate. He could change that; he'd just have to decline her generous offer and go back to his room. But no, he didn't do that.

"Sure, that'd be great," he said instead with a smile that—to his horror—was genuine and eager. Yes, he would have to make sure Gatrie _never_ found out about this!

They walked into the small outdoor gallery and set up the targets to their ideal distance. It didn't take long for Astrid to start shooting. Oscar was taking his time with stringing the bow and nocking his arrows. Luckily his first shot was rather well done.

"Your brother taught you the fundamentals well," Astrid remarked, taking a small break to watch him shoot. "Might I make a suggestion, however?"

"No, I'd appreciate it," Oscar replied, dropping his arm from the bowstring.

"Well, you should shift your stance," she started. "Your hips are too squared to the target, and lift up your elbow a bit more. It should be easier to shoot now."

"Thanks," he replied. Letting go of the arrow, it hit the target deftly. Pausing for a moment, he wondered if he should ask her about shooting from horseback. Now would be the perfect time to ask, but would he be intruding too much?

In the end, he decided that he might as well ask her. There was no other way that he would learn it properly if he didn't.

"Ah, say, Astrid… I've been trying horseback archery, but it hasn't been working out too well. Do you think you could give me a few pointers?" Oscar asked tentatively.

The bow knight stared at him for a moment, seeming to process what he said through her brain. A few seconds later, she smiled.

"Of course! It'd be my pleasure." The answer relieved Oscar. That was one problem out of the way; now he didn't have to worry about how he was going to use his new weapon in battle.

For nearly half an hour, the couple shot at their respective targets. Now and then, Astrid would make a remark about his shooting; complimenting him or correcting his stance. Other than that, silence occupied the space between them most of the time.

It was quite awkward. Oscar felt that he should say something to lighten the mood. However, whenever he opened his mouth to say something to break the silence, he found that he had nothing to say. Perhaps it was better that he didn't say anything, anyway. If he did, it was bound to end up being something stupid. Then the situation would _really_ be uncomfortable.

In the end, he never did say anything. He just focused on his target and shot away. Eventually, he found his arm to be tired from the still-new action of pulling back on the bow.

"You look fatigued. Perhaps we should both call it a night?" Astrid said when she saw Oscar trying to shake the feeling back into his arm.

"Ah, y-yeah. I guess I'm just not used to this yet," he replied with a sheepish grin and a slight blush of embarrassment.

"It took me quite a while to train my body. I'm sure you'll be able to shoot well in no time," she added, unstringing her bow.

Oscar smiled and nodded. He went to his target and began to pull his arrows out of the block of straw, sticking them back in his quiver carefully. After a few quiet minutes, the two of them were ready to return to their rooms.

"Thank you for the company, Oscar," Astrid said before they parted ways.

"No, thank _you_. You were a big help. Well, good night." Oscar was just about to walk away when he remarked something about Astrid that he was surprised he didn't see before. "Oh! Astrid, I just noticed that there's a flower in your hair. Did you put that there?"

Astrid blushed, reaching up to take the small red flower from behind her ear. She had completely forgotten about it.

"Ah, um. Yes, Makalov gave this to me… I hadn't realized that I had left it in my hair… I must've looked ridiculous," she stammered, aghast with herself.

"Oh no, it looked very pretty. Brings out the colour in your eyes," Oscar said reassuringly. This of course, only succeeded in making Astrid's face redder. It was then that Oscar realized what he had actually said.

_STUPID Oscar!_ He mentally kicked himself, and he nearly _did _smack his head. The lance knight needed to get some sleep; he must be really tired to slip up like that.

"W-Well, good night!" The green-haired man precipitated away before Astrid could say anything.

_I can't believe I said that! I hope she didn't take it the wrong way, because I didn't mean it in _that_ way, _he thought to himself as he closed the door of his room behind him. _I'm such an idiot! Big mouth, big mouth!_ The poor lance knight proceeded to bang his head on the wooden door three times. Then he realized that it was going to hurt his head considerably if he continued.

Dropping his bow and arrows into a corner of the room, Oscar sat on his bed. Letting out a long breath, he stared at the wall across from him. He slowly began to tell himself, over and over again, that he had said it out of kindness and that he didn't mean anything by saying it. It was a friendly compliment between team mates. Nothing more.

"That's right, Oscar, you didn't do anything wrong. It was only friendly conversation. Nothing wrong with it," he muttered to himself. With another sigh, he began to strip off his gloves and take off his boots. "It wasn't your fault that Makalov gave Astrid a flower… …Makalov… gave… Astrid… a flower…"

The thought slowly sank into his head and he frowned. Why had Makalov done that? He hadn't thought the sword knight to be a gentleman of any type. The pink-haired man wasn't a very romantic—or generous—person either. Maybe… maybe Makalov had given Astrid that flower for other reasons?

That new idea deepened Oscar's frown. For one reason or another, it didn't sit well with him. Wait, why would he be upset about that!

"NO! Bad! Stop thinking, Oscar!" he cried, realizing what route his mind was taking him. "Sleep! Yes, sleep; I need sleep! I'm so tired that my brain's not working right!"

Forcing himself not to think, Oscar swung himself up onto his mattress and pulled the warm covers over his body. Luckily, he was able to coerce himself into slumber without much effort.

Unfortunately, his sleep wasn't as peaceful as he might've hoped it to be.

* * *

"_You penniless mercenary! How dare you show up here and defile my estates! I will not have your presence foul the air of my home!" a voice snarled, as the hands of a pair of guards tossed him into the jail cell._

_Oscar landed upon the stone tiles painfully and felt his back touch the far wall. The steel bars of the door clanged shut and the lock clicked as the guard turned the key. _

"_Stay there and rot. Maybe if you're lucky, my wife might convince me to release you. Of course, it'd take _quite_ a bit of persuading," the same voice said with a smirk. _

"_You dirty wretch!" Oscar heard himself yell at the man, pouncing to the bars of his cage. The man laughed and walked away, leaving Oscar to fume and skulk in the darkness of the dungeon. _

* * *

Oscar's green eyes opened for a second before he shut them again, resuming his usual squint. Was it morning already? It looked like it; there was light outside of his window and his room was less dark than it had been when he fell asleep. He felt as if he'd only slept for less than an hour.

Sliding out of his bed, he strode over to his window unsteadily. Peering through the glass, he could see the pinkish, cloudy sky. Yes, it was dawn.

Great; he was still tired and they were starting the Serenes mission today. What a wonderful way to start a big job.

Yawning, Oscar splashed water onto his face and proceeded to do his morning washing. He then strapped on his armour and packed his bags. The lance knight still had a little bit of time to grab something to eat from Mainal's kitchens before he had to tack up his horse.

He had only taken a few steps from his room when Rolf and Mist came running towards him.

"Mornin' Oscar!" Rolf greeted, skidding to a stop. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mm, not particularly, but I'll live."

"Were you practicing late?" asked Mist, walking beside him as they started towards the kitchen once more.

"Yes, I was… Wait, how did you know I was practicing last night?" Oscar demanded, turning to face the young girl with a confused grimace. He hadn't thought that anyone had seen him. Ike's younger sister smiled sweetly.

"We saw you when we were looking for Ike," she said with a shrug. "I didn't know that you were good friends with Astrid."

Oscar nearly stopped dead in his tracks. Luckily, he didn't actually do that. Unfortunately, Mist and Rolf still caught the slight misstep.

"What's wrong Oscar? You looked like you were about to trip," Rolf inquired curiously, an impish glint in his eyes.

"Ah… I'm still sleepy. I'm sure that once I eat something I'll be fine," Oscar replied with a smile.

He turned to look at Rolf. The archer's grin faded away when he saw Oscar's expression. It was one that his older brother gave him rarely. When he did, he was usually in big trouble.

"Oh, right! Haha, yeah, there's TONS of food in the kitchens! The apostle's letting Ike pack as much provisions as he wants!" Rolf blabbered. To his relief, Oscar's face returned to its normal, placid composure.

"Good, I'm sure we'll need it."

* * *

Yeah, that dream was SO not obvious… Hehe, hopefully it won't give away TOO much of the story. I just like foreshadowing a little too much…

Oscar: … Er… Yeah…

FireEdge: Haha, anyway, that scene with Oscar and Astrid was a little awkward, but I was a little stuck when I was writing that part. I'm hoping that it'll be better next time.

Oscar: Anyway, don't expect the next update for another few weeks… Please review in the meantime.

--FireEdge--


	5. Chapter 5

It SO hasn't been a month since I last updated… I haven't been lazy; nooo!

Oscar: Yes, you have.

FireEdge: I have not… Well, maybe a little. I just haven't had a lot of time to myself lately. I've been caught up in my school production; the practice times eat up my life. So, until after it's over (in February) I'll be even SLOWER at updating! Just what we needed, eh?

Oscar: Please, just try and put up with her. Here's your chapter.

FireEdge: Oh, and sorry for the big time gap skip thing. Haha, I just don't feel like making this story too actiony…

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Chapter 5**

Begnion's troubles had ended; the secret laguz slave trade had been unearthed and the heron prince had made amends with the apostle. Now, the Crimean Liberation Army had new supplies, new troops and a new destination. Many problems had been solved with the success of the mission at Serenes. All problems next to Oscar's that is.

Camp had been set up a week away from the Daein side of Tor Garen and the army was taking its well-deserved rest. Outside one tent sat three green-haired brothers. They were staring at each other intently, a silent tension between them.

"What do you think, guys? Are we going to be able to perform a new special attack?" Boyd asked, breaking the silence. His voice strained with the effort of keeping his emotions under wraps. Inside, he was ready to burst with impatience and excitement. Oscar had told both Rolf and him to meet up with him, saying that he had figured out an idea.

"I think we might. I was looking through some old books on fighting techniques, and I found one that looks perfect," Oscar replied slowly, a bit hesitantly.

"Awesome! Nice work!"

"What is it?! What is it?!" Boyd and Rolf cried simultaneously, nearly jumping on top of their elder brother.

"Come on, tell us how it works!" Rolf continued after Oscar hastily stepped back and kept them at bay with his arms.

"There _are_ some requirements, though," started Oscar, examining his brothers' faces carefully. "The most important one is that we need to use the same weapon; a bow to be exact."

"A bow? You and I have to use bows?" Boyd asked, scrunching up his face. Titania drilled him hard enough when he had to learn the axe. Now he had to learn how to wield _another_ weapon?!

"Well, we don't have much of a choice. It shouldn't be too hard to pick up anyway, Boyd. You know how to apply the basics; Titania made sure of that, remember?" Oscar quickly glanced at Rolf and gave him a warning look. The younger boy quickly registered the message; he wasn't to tell Boyd that he had been secretly practicing archery. Boyd would completely flip out if he knew that Oscar had been getting a head start instead of the two of them starting together 'fairly'.

"Crud! Nothing we can do about it, I guess," mumbled Boyd resignedly. He then looked at Rolf impishly. "You better not slow us down, Rolf! You little brat."

"Stop calling me a brat! I'm a better archer than you! If anyone slows us down, it'll be you, Boyd!" the youngster retorted angrily.

"What did you say? I'm gonna—"

"Knock it off, Boyd!" Oscar chided, pushing the young man away from their younger sibling. "We both know that Rolf's skills with a bow are better than yours. You'll have to learn from him if we want to keep this attack a secret until we can show it off to Ike. Rolf's fundamentals were taught to him by an expert archer, so—"

"Yeah, I know, but he just keeps blabbering this nonsense about how he taught himself," interrupted Boyd with a snort, garnering an angry look from Rolf.

"I… I did teach myself! I'm a prodigy!" the young boy protested.

"Rolf, we know the real story," Oscar said off-handedly, beginning to feel a headache rising. He wanted to get out of this conversation before he really did get a migraine.

"Huh? What is it? What real story?" Boyd demanded, a confused look on his face.

"Oscar! No! Shh!" Rolf hissed under his breath. Oscar's eyebrows rose in surprise. He had just realized that Boyd didn't actually _know_ the truth and Rolf didn't want him to. The green-haired knight gulped and his mind worked for a cover-up.

"… The story… That…" Oscar started unsteadily under Boyd's suspicious gaze. "Rolf's lucky to have a genius like me for a brother, that's what."

Rolf sighed inaudibly and Oscar stared back at Boyd. The younger man stared at him, scrutinizing his face.

"You're such a liar!" he accused, arms crossed on his chest. He had a smug look on his face, proud that he had come up with the allegation.

"Nuh uh! It's true! Oscar _did_ teach me!" Rolf jumped in, desperate to hide his real story. Shinon was in their group again and would never _ever_ teach him again if the real story leaked out. "He taught me the basics and then my _natural_ _ability_ kicked in!"

"Yeah right! Stop messing around!" The fighter retorted, poking a finger at Rolf's forehead.

"We're _not_! Oscar can prove it!" Oscar felt like a tree had just fallen on top of him. Rolf realized, too late, what he had just said and gave Oscar an apologetic look. Fortunately, they managed to cover up their horror before Boyd caught on.

"Fine! We're moving out tomorrow and it's getting late right now, so tomorrow, when we set up camp you'll have to show me that you're really a great archer Oscar! No, wait, I'll be _generous_; I'll give you one week to whip up a sleazy act!" Boyd smirked. He knew that his brothers were up to something and that Oscar was lying through his teeth. "And if I'm not satisfied, you _have_ to tell me the _real _story! Oh, and do my kitchen duties for the next week! That last part's for you, pipsqueak!"

"What?! That's STUPID! Why would I to do your chores for you?!" Rolf yelled.

"Guys! Ike's coming!" exclaimed Oscar, completely forgetting about their current issue. The last thing any of them wanted was for Ike to find out about their secret attack before they even had it _started_.

The three brothers managed to weasel their way out of confessing and quickly bolted off; Rolf and Oscar one way, and Boyd another. As soon as Oscar and Rolf were clear of both Ike and Boyd, they slowed down.

"Oscar! Now what are we going to do?!" cried Rolf, staring up at his big brother with watery eyes.

"What do you mean what do we do? You're the one who told Boyd that I'd prove to him that I'm an expert archer!" Oscar demanded in dismay. He wasn't sure _how_ they were going to climb their way out of this hole.

"Uncle Shinon will _never_ teach me again if anyone finds out! I don't even know how _you_ found out!" Rolf continued to whimper, nearly in tears now.

"Okay, okay, hold on there Rolf! Don't cry! I'll think of something, all right?" Oscar said, kneeling down to put his hands on Rolf's shoulders. The boy immediately brightened up, giving Oscar a big hug.

"You're the best, Oscar!"

"Er, Right…" Oscar smiled limply. _Now _what had he gotten himself into? Sure, he could wield a bow decently, but he was still a bit shaky with his stances and he couldn't pass off as a good archer yet. Rolf couldn't possibly teach him anymore than he already had and Shinon was _completely_ out of the question. So who was left…? Astrid.

_Oh great… You've got to be kidding me…_

* * *

The next morning, as the army began its march deeper into Daein territory, Oscar trotted slowly down the line of soldiers, searching for his target. Soon, he spotted the dignified and dainty form of Astrid. Taking a deep breath to settle his nerves, he made his way towards her. 

"Good morning, Astrid," he greeted with a friendly grin. The bow knight looked up and returned the greeting with a smile of her own.

"Why, hello Oscar. I don't think that I've had the pleasure of speaking with you since the fights at Serenes."

"No, I guess that we've just been busy. We probably just missed each other every time we went to do an errand," he replied. Really, he had been trying to avoid her on purpose, but that wasn't the case anymore.

"Ah, how has your archery been coming along?" Astrid asked, attempting to start a conversation.

"Umm, actually, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about," replied Oscar carefully.

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, you see…" Quickly, Oscar told Astrid his story; leaving out the parts about the special attack. She didn't seem to mind the missing parts of his tale, however, so it all worked out in the end.

"I don't mind helping you at all. It'd be my pleasure," she answered with a genuine smile. Astrid wasn't too sure why, but her heart nearly jumped at the idea of being able to spend some more time with him. Perhaps it was because she didn't have many friends in the army and he was one of them. Or rather, she _hoped_ he was.

"Really? _Thank you_, Astrid, you're a lifesaver!" Oscar sighed with relief. "I'll meet up with you later on when we set up camp, if that's all right with you?"

"Y-Yes, that's fine!"

"I'll see you later, then." With a wave, Oscar trotted off. He had accomplished his purpose, he didn't need to be there any longer; he had a feeling that Gatrie would be finding his way towards Astrid any time soon.

Oscar frowned suddenly. Gatrie would be a problem if he found them practising together. He had been lucky that the knight hadn't seen them last time. This time he'd be training with Astrid for about a week. However, the lance knight couldn't think of anything to evade the problem. He guessed that he'd just have to count on luck. Who knows, maybe Gatrie would understand and see that he posed no threat what-so-ever.

* * *

"Astrid!" Oscar called as he approached her. The raven-haired noblewoman had already set up a handful of targets, attaching them to trees with small stakes. 

"Good evening. I'm glad that you made it," she greeted.

"Of course! I have to! If I don't get better at archery by next week, Rolf will never forgive me!" he said with a sheepish laugh. His look was distracted and he seemed a little jumpy.

"Oh… Right," Astrid stated bluntly, a little bit disappointed.

Despite his nervousness, Oscar caught the dejected look on her face.

"Ah, what's wrong?"

"Hmm? Wrong? Nothing, why do you ask?" she inquired, having already hid her emotions away.

"You looked a little upset for a moment."

"Huh? Oh, I-I did?" Astrid stammered, flushing a bit. What was she supposed to say now? She couldn't tell him that she was disappointed because he hadn't seemed quite as excited as she did about practising! Which was really only half the story, but he didn't need to know that.

"Um, er, well… Ah, I… I, um, I gave Makalov my grandmother's pendant earlier on today. He needed money and I figured that since I didn't need it, it would be better to give it to him. I guess I just realized that I kind of miss it now."

There, she had been able to think of a plausible story. It wasn't entirely a lie, either. She did somewhat miss the pendant, but she didn't really mind at all; her memories of her grandmother was in her heart.

"… You gave something that precious away?" Oscar asked, clearly surprised. He refrained himself from adding that Makalov was just going to pawn it off for money to gamble, most likely. He made a mental note to talk to Soren about it later. "Why would you do that?"

"Um, like I said, I didn't need it, and Makalov said that he was short of money. I just wanted to help, and since I gave the rest of my money away to that family…"

The green-haired man stared at Astrid, contemplating the young woman. She really was something. Just handing out her possessions and gold without a second thought; she was much more selfless than he could've thought.

"… If you could have it back, would you take it?" he asked curiously.

"… I… I suppose so," Astrid replied with a small frown. She shook her head quickly. "Ah, but never mind that. We're here to practice. You need to look like a professional archer within the week, don't you? We'd better get started."

* * *

"Good night, Oscar," Astrid said with a nod before she walked off towards her own tent. Oscar watched her leave and when she was out of his sight, he turned around and sighed. 

"Gatrie, I _know_ you're there!" Said knight came out from his hiding place behind a tent. His mouth was set in a grim frown.

"Do you care to explain, Oscar?" he demanded, arms crossed across his broad plate-armoured chest.

"I'm not doing this because I want to. I need to learn archery, and she's my best bet. Not to mention, she's the only _horseback_ archer in our army," Oscar replied quickly so that Gatrie could not find a moment to interrupt.

The blond man stared at him for a moment, obviously contemplating whether he was lying or not. However, Oscar's face was earnest and held no malice.

"… Fine, I'll believe you. If you even _try_ to pull _anything_ though, I'll be all over you in a snap!" Gatrie stated firmly with a nod, as if pleased with himself. "Well, I think we're done here now. Good night, Oscar!"

"… W-Wait! Gatrie!"

"Yes?" the other man asked, turning around. The green-haired lance knight hesitated. Was telling Gatrie _really_ a good idea?

"Ah… I thought that you might want to know this… You know Makalov?" Oscar started slowly, half regretting what he was going to say and half feeling very satisfied—much to his dismay. "I think that he would be more of a threat than I would be. Ask Astrid about him, you'll see what I mean."

"Hmm, I think I will actually. Later." Gatrie then turned away once more and hurried off.

Oscar slung his bow over his shoulder and proceeded to his tent. Had he done the right thing, saying that? He didn't really have any right to interfere with Astrid and Makalov's relationship, whatever it may be.

The squinty-eyed man frowned. He realized that he was getting too deeply involved; he shouldn't be trying to meddle with people's lives. Why should he care so much about what others do; especially _Astrid_? His brain chose not to answer that, but of course, deep down inside, he knew the answer. Oscar just preferred not to listen to it.

* * *

Yay! That chapter went by very fast for me. I had a lot of fun with the brothers. Sorry bout the snippy dialogue, though. It's half out of the game, and half out of my mind. It works out in the end though, so it's allll good. Oh, and the idea that this chapter revolved around was my original picture for this pairing. Now you all know the reason! Haha! 

Oscar: Please review! Hopefully, the next chapter will be up by the beginning of next month!

FireEdge: Until then!

--FireEdge--


	6. Chapter 6

((Re-edited since first upload))

Hahaha, sorry for the super-long update. I've been occupied with various things, and I just haven't been in the mood to write. However, my New Year's Resolution is to finish all my unfinished fanfics (minus any permanently discontinued stories). So, I'm going to try and finish this fic say… before next year!

Oscar: Okay there… Anyway, this is the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Chapter 6**

Astrid waited silently, her bow propped up against the trunk of a tree. The sun was low in the sky, and a chill wind blew her hair about her face. A couple of make-shift targets sat on the snow in the near distance.

Her breath made a cloud of mist as she exhaled and her hand went unconsciously to her pocket. The bow-knight's fingers enclosed around a gold pendant and she drew it out carefully. The ruby in its centre gleamed and she could catch her reflection in its perfectly cut surface.

She looked up as the sounds of footsteps crunching in the snow approached. Walking towards her was Oscar, a bow slung over his shoulder and a cloak thrown over his still-armoured body.

"Sorry I'm late! I had to help out Ike with something," the paladin greeted with a lopsided smile.

"Oh, not a problem, I wasn't waiting that long," she replied, slipping the pendant back into her pocket.

"Hmm, what's that?" Oscar asked, spotting the jewellery before it disappeared. He had a feeling that he knew what it was, however.

"Ah… Do you happen to recall that pendant I told you about a while back? Well, a few days ago Makalov returned it to me."

"Really?" His slender eyebrows rose in surprise. That was certainly interesting; Makalov had returned something that expensive? "Would you mind if I inquired why?"

"There's not too much to tell… He said that his sister became angry with him and told him to return it."

"Well, _that_ makes sense," he muttered under his breath. Oscar could remember Gatrie talking to Marcia a couple of days past. She seemed to be rather furious after their talk; Gatrie, on the other hand, was very satisfied.

"Pardon?"

"Oh, nothing! I'm just happy that you got your grandmother's memento back," Oscar replied. "You did seem rather depressed about the whole affair when we last talked about it."

"No, it wasn't that bad. I keep my memories of my grandmother in my heart, rather than in an old piece of jewellery," she answered with a bit of nostalgia.

Oscar eyed her momentarily. Despite what she said, she did still seem pretty happy to have it back. Or maybe it was just something else.

"You seem very fond of your grandmother," he remarked.

"Yes, I was very close to her. My name was derived from hers—Astraea. She died, however, when I was ten." Astrid's lips twitched slightly, frowning for a split second. It always did make her sad when she remembered her grandmother's death.

"… I didn't mean to bring up something painful; my apologies," Oscar said with his own frown. Seeing her unhappy didn't sit too well with him. "Ah, why don't we start practising now? I mean, that's why we're standing out here in the cold, right?"

"Yes, that's right," she replied with a nod, glad that the subject changed. "By the way, you and your brothers did marvellous out on the battlefield earlier. Your new attack worked out very well."

"Did it?" Oscar asked with a slight flush. Today, the three brothers had decided to unleash their special attack. They had taken down Homasa without a problem. The swordmaster's magic sword didn't even have a chance to strike before their arrows had done away with him.

"Yes, it did," repeated Astrid with a small smile. She noted unconsciously that Oscar looked very bashful when he was embarrassed; it was rather cute. Realizing her thoughts, Astrid's own cheeks blushed briefly. Luckily, Oscar hadn't seemed to notice.

"We couldn't have done it without your help. Training with you really did a lot! Not only did it help me fool Boyd, it truly did improve my skills in archery. I can wield more complex bows now, instead of that plain iron one."

"It was my pleasure. Besides, I enjoy your company; next to Gatrie, I don't get to practise with anyone. Talking with you is quite pleasant, also," she replied.

Her last statement made something in Oscar's brain snap. His mouth twitched and he nearly winced. The green-haired paladin composed himself quickly, however, before she noticed anything wrong.

"Ah, me too… Let's get started, shall we?"

After they parted ways that night, Astrid contemplated their hour together. Oscar had seemed normal enough, but once in awhile he would stiffen up and seem uncomfortable. She couldn't figure out why, though. Perhaps she'd ask him the next time she saw him. He had agreed to train with her again in two nights; frankly, she was feeling giddy about it.

* * *

Oscar woke up the next morning in a bit of a surly mood; nothing a warm breakfast couldn't fix, though. Either way, his dreams were to thank for his humour. Once again he was visited by that same disturbing reverie. 

This time, he found himself in that same, old dungeon cell. However, instead of being visited by a woman or the old nobleman, a younger man came to see him. He was a dark-haired noble with striking brown eyes in a familiar looking face. The man hadn't said a word to him, just observed. Oscar had stared back, unsure of what to do or say, but unwilling to look dejected.

After a spell, the man had left and Oscar was once again left alone with the sole, silent guard. Soon afterwards, he had woken up.

_I wish I knew what these stupid dreams are about. They're really starting to weird me out…_ Oscar thought to himself as he quickly washed up.

Shivering, he stepped outside and jogged towards the mess tent. Luckily, he didn't have to prepare the food this morning; Mist and Jill were taking care of that. Unfortunately, though, he ran into Gatrie.

"Good morning, Oscar," the blond man greeted him. The knight's face was stony, but he didn't seem to be angry.

"You too," replied Oscar tentatively. The two stared at each other for a moment before Gatrie spoke again.

"There's something that I think you should know… Astrid's engaged."

"With what?" Oscar asked, somewhat confused. Why would he need to know that she was busy?

"She has a fiancé, you idiot!" Gatrie growled. The knight might've just slapped the other man in the face; Oscar's expression would've looked the same.

"… … Why would I have needed to know that?" the green-haired paladin questioned with a tight expression.

"Don't play dumb, Oscar. Despite my warnings, you've been worming yourself into Astrid's heart," said the blond. "Don't get me wrong, though. I'm not giving up on her until I know who she sets her eyes on!"

"Haven't we been over this already? I thought that we came to an understanding. Go and battle it out with Makalov or something," Oscar muttered. "Anyway, she has a fiancé; doesn't that usually mean that she's unavailable?"

"That's where you and I differ in thinking, my friend. Why would she tell me something like that if she hadn't wanted me to _save_ her from her situation?"

"Right… Good luck with that. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to get some breakfast…" The paladin briskly strode away and into the safety of the crowded mess tent.

He collected his food with a friendly greeting and left to eat in the confines of his tent. It was much quieter there and no one would disturb him. Right now, his mind really needed to be sorted out.

Oscar could barely taste the food as he mechanically spooned his breakfast into his mouth; the porridge didn't have that much flavour anyway. He was more focused on what Gatrie had said to him mere minutes before. The man could still recall his exact emotion when he had heard the word 'fiancé'.

Shock and confusion hammered him on the head, and if he wasn't mistaken, something stabbed at his chest. The question was, however, _why_ was he feeling that way? He _knew_ that she came from a high-born family; it was typical of them to arrange marriages for their children. Why would Astrid be any exception? Maybe it was because he hadn't been seeing her as a noble-blooded woman; he had been regarding her as a fellow soldier.

Secondly, there was that pain that had seared through him and had made him clench his teeth. Oscar knew exactly what it was, he just hadn't let himself realize it, or admit it for that matter. He had known since after he had first practised with her.

At first he had simply been fascinated with her; sure he'd admit that he found her attractive, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. She was a rather interesting young woman; he hadn't met a noblewoman who had run away to join the army before. Her little quirks were intriguing as well. However, her personality was like that of a flame, and he was the moth that kept coming back.

Since he did the latter, he eventually became closer to her. Not too good for his health, considering it was driving him crazy because he had to watch his back every second for Gatrie's jealous self. He wished that the knight wouldn't hound him. After all, didn't he have a right to choose who he wanted to keep company with?

Hadn't he told Gatrie a thousand times that he wasn't interested in her? Yet why would the knight be back on his tail the next day—even if they had come to an agreement? Then again, that was an easy question to answer: he was lying.

"Great, I have practise with her tomorrow, too… I seem to always get myself into trouble."

* * *

"What?" Astrid blinked, staring at him quizzically. 

"Do you really have a fiancé?" repeated Oscar, unable to keep a frown off his face.

"… Yes, I do. How did you know?" she answered, a grimace on her own visage. Where in the world had he found out about that?

"Someone told me."

"Oh…" The bow knight observed him silently. His eyebrows were knit together and he looked uneasy. "Is something wrong?"

"Is it really appropriate for me to associate with you like this?" Oscar inquired hesitantly, not quite meeting her eye.

"Th-That's preposterous!" she exclaimed. "Why would you think that? Just because I'm engaged doesn't mean that my fiancé rules my life, or that I can't be with my friends."

Or at least she hoped so. Astrid couldn't help but recall her sisters' letters; of how their husbands locked them away in their own homes, or how they checked their mail and controlled whom they talked to.

Oscar caught the troubled look on her fair face. This time, it was he who asked 'what was the matter'.

"… I'll tell you this because I trust you. You've listened to my ramblings before, and you're… easy for me to confide in," Astrid said hesitantly.

"I-I'm flattered, I suppose…" he replied with a slight blush. What she had said was, to him, a rather large compliment. "So, what is it that you want to tell me?"

"I know that this marriage is for the best; for my family, myself and for my fiancé. My fiancé is a wealthy man; he will provide for me everything that I could possibly need or want. However, I selfishly ran away from it by joining the Begnion army. If I hadn't met General Ike and joined this army, I would be married and holed up in some manor. You see, my sisters have ended up just like that; controlling husbands locking them away from the outside world. "

The green-haired paladin did not reply. That was a lot of information for him to absorb. Well, not really, but for some reason he was having a hard time letting it all sink in. Maybe it was because of the fact that he was secretly jumping with joy at the fact that Astrid did not actually want to get married to this man.

"… You seemed shocked," Astrid stated, realizing that Oscar was staring off into space and not answering her.

"Oh! Ah… no. I mean, yes. No wait… Well… I just didn't expect that. How you joined the army to get away. Wasn't that rather… drastic?" he asked, his wits back in his head.

"I suppose… It was the only way that I could think of to escape."

"You realize that this won't last forever. What are you going to do after this is all over? Will you return to your family, or rejoin the Begnion army?" Oscar probed curiously.

"I've thought about that, too. My resolve is to return to my family. Travelling with you all has taught me a lot. I've realized that I can't run away forever; I need to face them sooner or later…" Her voice was confident and determined, but her eyes said otherwise.

"… You're a strong woman, Astrid. I have a feeling that your marriage will turn out just fine," he replied with a smile. However, he really was somewhat disheartened by her response. She had proved herself to be a mature and strong person, but to hear her say that she was willing to marry that man… Well, it brought another stab of pain to his chest.

He looked away for a moment, staring at the distant horizon. Only a small sliver of the sun still peeked over the treetops, and the cloudy sky was navy. His emerald eyes fluttered open for an instant, unhindered by the brightness of the sun. Oscar realized that it had become colder, too.

"It's late, we should go back," he said, turning back to face Astrid. The paladin noticed that the young woman was giving him a funny look. "Ah… Is there something on my face?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to stare. It was just that… your eyes… they opened," Astrid apologized, flustered at being caught. Really, how rude could she get?

"Oh, yes, you've probably wondered why I squint. They're rather sensitive to bright lights. I was involved in a fire when I was young and the flames damaged my eyes. The doctors said that I was lucky to not have lost my eyesight, but they've been sensitive ever since. I can see fine, now, but I'm accustomed to squinting. You know what they say: 'If you keep doing that, it'll stay that way'."

"A fire? That's horrible," the bow knight said. She would've never suspected.

"Yes… I… I lost my mother in that fire. Luckily, Boyd and Rolf weren't in the house when it happened. My father became sickly because of inhaling too much smoke. He became unable to work, so after my eyesight recovered I joined the Crimean army to earn money. Of course, that didn't last too long either… About three years ago, my father passed away and I had to leave the knighthood to help take care of my brothers. Thankfully, Commander Greil—Ike's late father—took us in," Oscar answered with a rueful grimace. "Anyway, now I'm the one that's rambling. I'll see you tomorrow, Astrid. Good night."

"Ah… Good night." Astrid watched him gather his bow and arrows and walk away. She was rather stunned; he was usually such a cheerful person, yet he suffered such a tragic past. Her sad story didn't seem to measure up at all.

In fact, the noblewoman felt rather guilty now. Here she was, complaining about her misfortunes when he had been through so much more. He never even protested once against her selfishness; Oscar really was a kind person.

_I won't moan about my engagement any longer; I'm only succeeding in looking like a simpering fool. The whole reason I joined the army was to become stronger. It looks like I still have a long way to go._

* * *

Well, there you have it. The end of Chapter 6. Anyway, expect big time jumps in the next few chapters. I realize that I'm going through the game pretty fast, but really though, this is just sort of a follow-up to what happens after the war. That's when the story _really_ starts to get exciting. That's a hint, by the way. 

Oscar: So, expect another three or four chapters until the game's end. Then… well, you'll see, I suppose.

FireEdge: I promise to get an update up soon. I'm aiming to get it up in two weeks (AMAZING, I know!), right before exams (not so amazing). Then, I won't feel so bad about not updating for so long. Anyway, still, you know the drill: don't get your hopes up JUST IN CASE. Hahaha, until next time!

--FireEdge--


	7. Chapter 7

Aww, I guess I couldn't stick to my "try and get this up in two weeks" plan. I tried, though, I really did. For some reason, everything seemed to pile on top of me last week and I've been running around like crazy and giving myself massive headaches.

Oscar: On the bright side, her exams are now finished; which is the only reason why she even had time to get this chapter out.

FireEdge: Hey…

Oscar: What? I didn't mean for it to sound sarcastic.

FireEdge: Right, anyway, this chapter is probably one that I think you've all find rather interesting. I think. In this instalment, Astrid finally finds out—BZZT! (This transmission has been cut off. We apologize for the inconvenience. Have a nice day!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Chapter 7**

It had been nearly two weeks since Oscar had learnt of Astrid's engagement. A lot had happened since then, too. They had taken over the Daein capital and were now on their way to the Crimean border. After everyone had packed up and finished their preparations, they would march on to the Riven Bridge. Finally, they would once again see their homeland.

Just thinking about seeing his home once again, after nearly a year of travelling and fighting, put Oscar's mind in a wonderful state. However, his heart was still at unease. He just could not put Astrid out of his mind. It seemed that ever since he had talked to her about her fiancé, the noblewoman's face kept creeping back into his head. A disturbing trend, indeed.

Luckily for him, he had not seen her since then. Well, he had passed her by casually in the mornings or afternoon, but ever since they had entered Nevassa, everyone had been too busy to really socialize.

It seemed that Astrid was also occupied with her weapon training. Recently, she had been learning how to wield an axe. Titania had told him that she had approached her with a request to learn how to use one. Ike had recommended her to pick up the axe and to learn from the red-haired paladin—Kieran was too risky of a choice; Ike did not want poor Astrid to be killed. It was a difficult undertaking, but the young man had thought that she was up to the task.

Either way, having almost a week to himself, had led the squinty-eyed mercenary to thinking about his rather sticky situation. During that time, he had made up his mind. He knew that he could no longer deny it, and if he didn't come clean now, it would just cause him even more trouble. Of course, the plan he had produced had no guarantee of ending up nicely.

Wandering about the camp, Oscar soon found the person he was looking for.

"Gatrie!" The addressee glanced up from cleaning his armour and looked at Oscar quizzically.

"Can I help you, Oscar?"

Oscar peeked around briefly to check if there were many people around. He didn't know what would happen next, and he'd prefer it if there wasn't a crowd to witness anything if it did turn for the worse.

"I need to talk to you," the paladin said, returning his gaze to the blond man. The latter stood up and propped his fists on his hips.

"I'm listening."

"… I lied to you—" Oscar started, but a gloved fist punched him squarely on the side of his face.

He staggered back and worked his jaw gingerly, one hand holding it gently. Gatrie's face held an unreadable expression and his fist had returned to its original position. Oscar had suspected that that would happen, just not that soon! The knight hadn't even heard him out! At least his jaw was slack…

"I suppose that you knew what I was going to say, since you were so ready to punch me?" Oscar asked as soon as he was sure that his jaw wasn't broken. He cringed, though, a shot up pain coursing up the side of his face. There was a taste of blood in his mouth.

"Of course. Do you think I'm daft, Oscar? I _knew_ you were lying! You were so persistent about saying you weren't, so I just played along!" Gatrie replied, sitting down again.

Oscar however noticed the _too_ smug expression on his face.

_Liar… You just guessed that! Lucky you were right, too. I hope he doesn't do this to everyone._

"Hmm, right, I should've known not to try and deceive you," the paladin said with a grimace. He cringed again; he'd better ask someone to heal him before they had to go to battle.

"Precisely! I'm glad that you came to your senses and admitted it to me. Of course, this doesn't change anything; Astrid will still be mine," Gatrie retorted.

"Shouldn't we let _her_ decide that? She doesn't _belong_ to anyone. Anyway, if you haven't forgotten, she has a fiancé," demanded Oscar, sitting down across from Gatrie.

"I thought that we already went over this? I won't let my beautiful, little Astrid fall into the clutches of this evil man that she obviously doesn't want to be with."

"… Has it ever occurred to you that she might not want to be saved? I talked to her about it, actually. She said that she won't run away from her marriage; she's going to go back and marry this guy after this is all over," Oscar said pointedly.

Gatrie's hand tightened on the cloth that he was using to clean his breastplate. He seemed to be thinking hard about what Oscar had just said.

"Preposterous. She's just saying that to sound brave. That's the way she is. Don't you know _anything_ about women, Oscar? By saying that, she's just telling you that she really _wants _to be rescued from her fate!" The blond man was greatly reassured by what he said. Oscar wished he could be, too.

"Well, whatever you say, Gatrie. Just… what's going to happen with _us_ now? You're not going to punch me again, are you?"

"Not unless you deserve it. The answer to your first question is simple, too. We are now, once again, rivals for the woman we love!" exclaimed Gatrie, a little too loudly. A few soldiers passing by glanced at the pair of them bizarrely.

Oscar sighed and slapped a hand to his face, only realizing too late that he hit the side that was in pain. He really wasn't going to try and convince Gatrie that they never were 'rivals for love'; he knew that it wouldn't work. Instead, he stood up and walked away while Gatrie continued to ramble on about who-knows-what. It was better if he left now, that way no one would know Gatrie was talking to _him_.

As Oscar made his way to Rhys' tent, he heard the flapping of wings above him. Glancing upwards, he perceived Janaff flying towards him. The hawk laguz slowed down and dropped in front of the paladin.

"Oscar! What happened to you? I could see that injury from a mile away, and I mean that literally, by the way. Do you need Uncle Janny to put a vulnerary on for you? How did you get it, anyway? Should I go beat up the mean person who did that to you?" Janaff's questions kept coming and coming; Oscar didn't even get a chance to answer them.

"Ah, Janaff? Heeelloo? I'm fine! I'm O-K-A-Y!" the green-haired paladin said loudly.

Really, he had only become good friends with the hawk laguz last week, but whenever Janaff's sharp eyes spotted something wrong with him, he was there.

"Oh, really? Are you sure, though? After all, what would everybody say if I let a youngling walk around injured? What happened, anyway, little one?"

Oscar sighed again. Also, there was the factor that Janaff was convinced that he was a five year-old child. At least it was better than when Janaff had despised him because he had accidentally called him a kid.

"Nothing really. I, er, got from a skirmish with one of the other soldiers. In fact, I was just on my way to see Rhys about it. If it'll make you feel better, you can come along," the _twenty-four_ year-old answered.

"Of course!! If it hurts, you can hold my hand. No worries, I won't tell your friends, I know how you young ones are embarrassed by such things," Janaff exclaimed, falling into stride with the taller man.

The paladin resisted the urge to sigh and smack his head against something. Perhaps listening to Gatrie would've been better…

* * *

"Wow, Oscar, what did you do? It looks like someone punched you," Rhys stated as he held his staff up to Oscar's face. 

"Well, that would be because someone _did_, Rhys," he replied. In a few moments, the healing aura of the priest's magic engulfed his jaw. Oscar felt the familiar tingling of the magic mending his wounds.

"Why's that? Who punched you?" the other man asked, lowering his arm as the bluish aura faded.

"Errrr, I'd rather not say… Thanks, though, Rhys." Oscar stood up and turned to the entrance of the tent.

"No problem. Oh, and nice to see you, too, Janaff."

"Likewise, beorc," replied Janaff. "Oh! Oscar, wait for me!"

Janaff dashed out of the tent and quickly caught up to the paladin. He did not say anything for a few minutes, allowing the pair to walk past a large group of soldiers. As soon as they were out of earshot, his mouth opened.

"So, Oscar, are you going to tell me what happened? You know, it's not good for you to keep everything bottled up. If you have a problem, your Unkie Janny will help you."

"Umm, there isn't any problem, Janaff. I just got into a bit of a row with someone. You know how we_ young people_ are, always roughhousing," Oscar answered.

"A row? About what?" the other asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about. Can't we just talk about something else?" the paladin demanded, hoping that Janaff would agree to change the subject. The less who knew about his predicament, the better.

"Weeeellll, if that's what you want. Let's see… Why don't you tell me about that female beorc you seem to be smitten with?" Janaff inquired innocently.

"Wh-What?!" cried Oscar, whirling on Janaff with a flushed face. "What are you talking about?"

"Come now! I'm the King's eyes! I see many things. Really, it wasn't that hard to figure out, anyway. You keep company with her quite a lot; though I do think you're a little bit young to think about mates…" The hawk cupped his chin thoughtfully.

Oscar turned a deeper shade of red. How in the world did Janaff know that he hung out with Astrid? He had only met Janaff about a week ago; he hadn't really seen Astrid since then! Why was the laguz asking him about this, anyway?!

"Isn't it rather rude to spy on people like that, Janaff?" Oscar asked, weaselling around the direct subject.

"Spying?!" exclaimed Janaff. "Despicable! I do not _spy_ on people—well, unless the King asks me to. I simply enjoy flying in the dusk sky. It's not my fault that these superb eyes of mine accidentally see things. For the entire time that I've been here, I've spotted you and that she-beorc lounging around together. I simply assumed you were attracted to her; after all, isn't that what you beorcs do when you're after a mate? Spend time with them alone?"

"N-No! NO! That is certainly _not_ what beorcs do! Sure, that's one ways of-of _going after a mate_, but not _everyone_ does that! People who are simply friends could still keep company with each other with no strings attached," Oscar explained, managing to calm his somewhat hysterical voice by the end of his explanation.

_Okay, I'm calm. Janaff just doesn't understand beorcs, it was all a misinterpretation… If I act indifferent, he'll move away from the subject and I'll be fine, _Oscar thought to himself. However, another part of him spoke up. It was asking him why he was so frantic to hide his feelings, since he had, obviously, accepted them; that punch to face wasn't for nothing!

"Oscar? Yoo-hoo!" Janaff waved a hand in front of Oscar's face. "Are you sure you don't need to see that healer again? Really, you youngsters need to control yourselves more; you get excited too fast and end up exhausted or asleep on your feet."

"Hmm? Oh, sorry! I'm fine, I was just thinking," replied the green-haired beorc as he resurfaced from his inner monologue.

"About that female?"

"NO!" Oscar answered, just a little too fast to avoid suspicion. "Anyway, shouldn't we go get ready? We're marching out soon."

"Why, I do think you're right! I'm off then. See you later, Oscar." Janaff flapped his wings a few times before he began to lift off the ground. Before he took off, he called down to the beorc: "She seems like a nice person. You have my approval!"

"Darn it, Janaff!!" the paladin exclaimed as the hawk flew away swiftly.

* * *

Janaff sighed happily as he floated through the chilly air. The sun was low on the horizon and there was a soft breeze. How glad he was that he could fly! Really, how did beorcs cope with their inability to soar through the skies? What boring and unbearable lives they must lead. 

As the hawk laguz passed the perimeter of the army's camp, he spotted a lone figure standing by its outskirts. Was it an enemy? Focusing in on it, he easily identified who the form was.

_Oh! It's the she-beorc that Oscar's fond of. Ah, she seems to be alone today. Hmm, this could be a good time to look her over. I did give him my approval since everyone in the camp speaks highly of her, but it wouldn't hurt to get some personal experience._

Janaff tilted his body towards the ground and let his body pick up speed as he hurtled downwards. When he was just above the height of the treetops, he levelled out skilfully and began to decelerate slowly. He flapped his wings loudly as he neared Astrid, letting their sounds warn the paladin as to not startle her.

The noblewoman turned around and watched as the laguz neared her. Janaff hovered several feet above the ground and gradually descended, transforming to his beorc form as he touched down.

"Oh, good evening to you, good sir. I believe that your name is Janaff? What brings you out here?" Astrid inquired curiously, leaning her iron axe against the nearby tree. She had just been practising when she had perceived the hawk coming towards her.

"Well, you're a very polite beorc! That's good to know! You even got my name right, and we haven't even met before!" Janaff cried in delight. "I'm afraid that I don't know your name, though. There's just too many of you beorc."

"My name is Astrid. Pleased to make your acquaintance. So, um, did you need something from me?" she asked, unable to contain herself. It wasn't everyday that one of the army's laguz came up to her out of the blue.

"Need something? Oh no, I simply wanted to meet you in person!" Janaff replied with a smile. His eyes flickered momentarily to the axe against the tree; so, she was dedicated, too.

"Might I ask why?" the dark-haired paladin probed.

"Errmm…" the hawk looked away from her a moment, a hand cupping his chin in thought. _Oh dear, what do I say? Oscar will be furious if I told him of his interest in her. But what am I supposed to tell her? Oh! Here's an idea!_

"I heard about you from Os—I mean, everyone. They were good things, though. So, I wanted to meet you myself. Hahaha… hah…"

"Um, thank you…" Astrid replied with a blush. Did people actually talk about her? Also, what was that word that the laguz had fumbled? She was almost sure that it was a name.

"So, Astrid, I know we just met and all, and that this is a rather personal question to ask… But, do you have your eye on anyone in this army?" Janaff ventured.

The hawk knew that he was overstepping quite a bit, but he wanted to know if this girl returned Oscar's feelings. After all, if she didn't, he could warn Oscar and save him some heartbreak. He knew how much it hurt to be rejected and he didn't want the poor fellow to get hurt. What kind of adoptive uncle would he be if he didn't look out for his 'nephew'?

"E-Excuse me?" she exclaimed, flushing profusely. "_Indeed_ that is a personal question! Wh-Why do you want to know?"

"My apologies… You don't have to tell me, if you're uncomfortable about it. Maybe you don't like anyone, at all. It's just that… well, it's confidential, but I know someone that might just admire you," the laguz answered secretively with a wink.

"Wh-What? Really?" Astrid asked, both surprised and flattered.

"Yes! He's a very nice person, too, if you decide to consider him. Of course, I can't tell you who he is."

The paladin smiled. It seemed that the hawk wanted to meet her in order to help his friend. That was so sweet of him. However, reality struck her and her smile faded.

"Oh… Ah, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm already engaged to someone. I'm very flattered, really, but could you tell your friend that I have a fiancé?" she said sadly.

"A fiancé?! You look so young! Your parents have already chosen a mate for you?! I just don't understand you beorc," Janaff exclaimed.

"I'm sorry… It's customary for beorc nobles to arrange their children's marriages. That way, they maintain their dignity and status. Usually, it helps them financially, also," added the noblewoman.

"What if you don't like your future mate? Can't you decide if you want to marry him or not?" Janaff asked. _Oh, poor, little Oscar! He'll be heartbroken! _

"… No, the children have no say in it. We must obey our parents and marry whomever they chose."

"Ridiculous! What cruel parents would do that to a child?! Forcing them to live the rest of their lives with someone they have no love for! Just for such superficial things like gold and status! Like the no-good crows! Bah! Your Beorc traditions are barbaric!" The laguz's wings flexed in vexation and he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Relaxing his body, Janaff frowned and contemplated what he should do. How would Oscar react to this? He certainly can't know that he had approached Astrid… Maybe he'd just bring it up in conversation casually.

"Pardon me, Janaff? Are you all right?" Astrid's voice brought his attention back to reality.

"Oh yes, I forgot that you were there. I have much to think about; I'll take my leave of you. It was nice to meet you, Astrid. Good night." Janaff jumped into the air and flapped his wings a few times before transforming and gliding away.

"Ah… good night."

* * *

Interesting chapter I've got here. I'm not too sure what to make of it, hopefully you all can tell me instead. 

Oscar: Oh no, I don't want to see what Janaff might do next…

FireEdge: Sorry Oscar, dished you out quite a bit of punishment this chapter. Haha. Oh yeah, about Janaff. I hope I kept him IC. It was a little hard to write him, but I just_ had_ to include him in this story somehow. Oh, and if you don't get the Uncle Janny thing, go read Oscar and Janaff's supports. NOW! They are the funniest things ever; you're missing out if you haven't seen them yet.

Anyway, that's all for today. Unfortunately, the next update might be late (again), since my school's production will be put on at the end of February. I'll be really busy until after that, but I'll try my best. See you next time!

--FireEdge--


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, my school's production is finally over, and my schedule should be back to normal now. This was supposed to be out a few days ago, but I didn't have time to put it up. At least it's here now, though!

Anyway, I've noticed that I've been slacking off of the backstories of Astrid and Oscar. Which is not good, by the way, since I wanted to explore their past more. So, this chapter is crammed with a series of flashbacks from Astrid's past. No worries though, this chapter does cover an important aspect of the plot. What it is? It's a secret!!

Oscar: Well, this chapter should be interesting… so stay tuned.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Chapter 8**

The glistening blade of the axe head sliced the crisp night air before it struck the ground. Vibrations from the impact rippled along Astrid's weary arms. She was starting to breathe heavily and sweat beaded on her forehead. However, she could not stop. Training was the only thing that kept her mind occupied so that she didn't have to think about a certain event from earlier that day.

As she stopped to catch her breath and dislodge her axe, a childhood memory crept up on her.

* * *

"_You… want to be my friends?" a nine year-old Astrid asked, more than a little wistfully. The young boy and girl before her smiled._

"_Well, our parents are friends, so we should be friends too, right?" the curly-haired girl replied._

"_Yes, I'm sure that we'll have a lot of fun together," her brother added, stepping forward and grasping Astrid's hands. His intense green eyes bore into hers and Astrid's heart leapt unfamiliarly. _

"_Th-That would be nice," the black-haired noble stammered. "I don't have many friends. My brothers usually scare them away because they make fun of me…" _

"_We heard some stories about that. They poked fun at you for talking to horses, right?" the other girl asked._

"_That's a stupid thing to tease you about! They're not very good friends. But, we won't make fun of you," the boy added, his hold on her hands ever present._

"_Really? Thank you! Um, why don't we go to the gardens? The flowers are blooming and it's really pretty!"_

"_That sounds great! Let's go! Maybe, you could show us your pony, too." _

* * *

Suddenly, Astrid lost all of her energy. She slumped down to the cold ground and stared listlessly at her axe. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts and confusion. Why was she remembering Tayena and Arwine now? 

The two brown-haired siblings had been the children of a noble family that her parents consorted with. Once a week, they would come visit her with their parents. They were of the same age, with Tayena being a year older. The trio had been inseparable and became close friends. However, one day, when Astrid was twelve, an unforeseen event occurred. Tayena was away and Arwine had visited with a pretty blonde girl that day.

* * *

_She hadn't known what had taken over her; what intangible force had controlled her to say what she had said. For some reason, seeing Arwine being that close with that other girl had caused a strange, sickly feeling to crawl up her throat. Before she had realized what she was doing, she had already spoken. _

"_He's lying! He's never ridden a horse at a gallop with a hunting party! He can barely stay in a saddle at a trot!" _

_Arwine's face reddened as the blonde girl in front of him laughed heartily; she made no effort to hide the amusement and mockery in her tone. This only caused Arwine's face to darken and he looked away angrily._

"_Hahaha! You can't ride, Arwine? That's strange; usually all boys your age can ride as good as soldiers!" the blonde said with an insincere smile. "All this laughing has made me thirsty. I think I'll go inside and get something to drink." _

_She stood and walked towards the manor with another giggle and a toss of her hair. As soon as she was out of sight, Arwine whirled on Astrid. His usual kindly eyes held a baleful expression._

"_What was THAT for?! How could you TELL her that?!" he demanded angrily._

"_I-I… I don't know," Astrid answered timidly, involuntarily taking a step back._

"_You _don't know_?! What kind of answer is that?! You completely wrecked my chances to get Ciele to like me! What kind of friend _are_ you?!"_

_Arwine was now inches away from her face; she could see the individual strands of his curly hair, each fine eyelash and the rage in his green eyes. Astrid had never seen Arwine look at her like that before. He had never been this furious; not even when she had accidentally broken his new bow. She began to shake uncontrollably as tears began to form in her eyes. _

"_What are you crying for? Do you think that I'm going to forgive you just because you start to blubber?! God, I don't know why I became friends with you! So many people have laughed at me for being friends with the cry-baby horse-lover! Now, the only girl that looked my way thinks that I'm a total wimp, no thanks to you!" he yelled. _

_Astrid felt a lump form in her throat as the tears now dripped down her face. She took a step backwards, but tripped and fell down hard. The young girl could feel the hem of her dress tear and the dirt scratch at her leg as she landed. _

_The brown-haired boy gave her an unreadable look, his jaw clenched. He seemed to be conflicted between helping her up and walking away. Astrid looked up through watery eyes that begged for his forgiveness. However, Arwine turned his back on her, after a moment of hesitation, and strode away. _

_Seeing him walk away pulled out the last stop and a sob racked her small body. She stood up shakily and ran for the stables. Though her eyes were blurred, her feet took her down the familiar path. _

_Reaching her destination, she threw open the stall door of her pony, Melon. The small beast snorted in surprise as his mistress threw herself around his neck and wept violently. _

_About ten minutes later, footsteps sounded on the stone path and a shadow fell over the pair. Astrid looked up hesitantly to see the figure of her brother crouched over her. _

"_Oh Astrid… You're going to kill your poor pony if you hug him so hard," Joel said lightly. The young girl sniffed once before she threw herself into her older brother's arms._

"_Look at you! Your dress is ripped and you're covered in straw!" he scolded mockingly, rocking back on his heels and letting himself sit down. "What's this? Your leg is scratched, too?"_

"_J-Joel… Ar-Arwine, I-I…I made h-him mad," she sniffled. "I-I didn't… didn't mean to."_

"_Hey, it's okay! Good ol' Eli's got it covered. He's teaching that boy a lesson that he won't forget. Serves him right, too, making our baby sister cry!" _

"_B-But, it's not… not his fault," she protested weakly._

"_Nonsense. What kind of friend, nay, man is he if he made such a pretty girl cry? Why, the kind of person who deserves to be punished. Don't you worry now, Astrid. Your big brothers have everything under control."

* * *

_

Astrid wiped a stray tear from her cheek roughly. She never saw Arwine again, unless it was at a big gathering. He would greet her coldly and then avoid her the rest of the event. Tayena still talked to her, but she soon moved away to live with her aunt in another part of Begnion.

The noblewoman could not understand why she had recalled of that fateful day. It didn't seem to have much connection to what had happened a few hours ago. Well, other than the fact that they both involved a male companion and love.

Astrid's brows knit together as said event began to return to her mind. A strange feeling churned in her stomach and an uncomfortable prickling sensation shot up her throat. She took in a deep breath to calm herself. In that moment, she suddenly saw the connection. She had done what Arwine had; she had walked away.

The noblewoman had been so confused when Gatrie had confessed his feelings. His eyes, so passionate and sincere, had glued her to the spot. She did not even speak, only listened to his voice tell her of his plans and his emotions. He had said that he loved her; no one had ever made him feel that way before. The knight cared not that she had a fiancé; he would save her from her fate. They would go to Crimea and live a happy life after the war. He would take good care of her and he would make her the happiest woman in all of Tellius.

It was the dream confession that all little girls dreamt of. Astrid had read many of those kinds of stories before; they all had a happy ending. Wasn't this what she wanted? To have a charming stranger fall in love with her and whisk her away from her drab life? Yes, perhaps she did, a long time ago, but now it was not what she wanted now. In fact, she didn't know at all what it was that she wanted. Astrid had only decided to return home after the war to please her family; after all, what else was there for her in the world? If she lost her family, she would lose a huge part of her life. Better to go along with this marriage than risk the former.

Either way, right in the middle of Gatrie's confession, she finally tore her eyes away from his. Then, interrupting him with a hasty apology, she ran away. To where, she knew not. Only to escape was her goal. So she had found herself at her tent. However, she knew that he would find her there. Instead, she had taken her axe and come here to train. Now that she was drained of energy, she was forced to re-evaluate her situation.

_I told myself that I would stop running away from my problems. But, what have I done? Run away,_ she thought shamefully with a choked sigh as she felt her eyes begin to water.

Shaking her head, she rubbed at her eyes and took another deep breath. However, that tight sensation in her chest didn't go away and the tears still probed at her eyes, attempting to escape. She was confused and didn't know what to do. How much she wished that one of her sisters were here beside her.

It wouldn't make a difference, though. Since even if one of them were here, they would only tell her that this was something that she had to work out for herself. As if just the thought of them saying that was enough, Astrid forced herself to assess her feelings on the matter.

First thing was first: did she return Gatrie's feelings? … No, she did not. Not in that way; Gatrie reminded her of her brothers, always looking out for her. Now, what was she to do? Well, she would have to apologize to the blond man. The fashion in which she had walked away had been very rude. She also needed to explain herself. If she did not tell him straight out, then she would only lead him on and cause him more heartbreak. Yes, she would speak to him tomorrow. It was the only option.

Astrid, with a new resolve, stood up slowly with help from her axe. Brushing back a strand of her hair from her face, she grabbed the handle of her axe. However, she realized that she had not the strength left to lift it. Now what was she going to do? Drag it back to camp?

"Astrid!" a clear, low voice called.

Startled, Astrid dropped the handle and looked in the direction of the camp. Approaching her at a jog was a green-haired man.

"Oscar!" she greeted with surprise, and a little bit of delight, as he neared her.

"Janaff told me that he saw you out here. You know, it's late; you shouldn't be out here alone. There could be enemies," he chided, his tone the same as that that he used to chastise Rolf.

Astrid could not help but smile. Really, Oscar was such a kind person, worrying about everyone.

"I'm fine, really! I can handle myself. I was just about to… to… to head back," she said, unable to stop the stammer. The last part of her sentence had barely come out.

When she had looked up at Oscar's face, she had come face-to-face with a pair of rare-seen eyes. It seemed as if he had unconsciously opened them, for he mistook her fumble for fatigue.

"Look, you can barely talk, you're so exhausted. You go to sleep. I'll take your axe for you," Oscar said with a smile.

"Ah, th-thank you… Um, good night," she replied quickly, turning towards the camp and walking away. She did not want him to see the slight redness of her face.

When she had seen his eyes, her breath had caught in her throat and her heart had skipped a few beats. His green orbs were one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. They were of the deepest emerald; it blended in so well with his pupils that they were indistinguishable at first glance. A dreamy, fathomless haze seemed to adorn them, but, at the same time, they were clear and piercing.

They reminded her very much of Arwine's. They both imbued upon her the same fluttery, dizzying feeling. This realization unsettled her somewhat. Maybe it was because she finally realized how she felt about Oscar.

* * *

Ookkkaaay, this chapter was a little short, but I didn't want to delve any deeper this chapter. Either way, I'm hoping that the content made up for the length. I'm, personally, very happy with it. I had fun with the flashbacks. Oh, and sorry if I made Astrid somehow rediscover twice her feelings for Oscar. I don't recall writing that, but with my memory, anything's possible. 

On a completely sort of unrelated note: OMG, FE10 IS OUT IN JAPAN!! It only takes place 3 years after FE9, so it's bound to screw me over on half of my FE9 stories. But hey, it's fanfiction! They live off plot holes, so all you people who will be playing the Japanese version (or will find out the storyline and such) don't go and spoil it for me or dash my dreams. I'll still writing FE9 stories the same way as if there isn't a sequel.

Oscar: So, please leave a review (and ignore her rant if you want to)! An update will be up eventually!

--FireEdge--


	9. Chapter 9

Ummm, yeah, so at first I was just totally neglecting my computer. Then, before I knew it, I was off on a bus and touring down in the States for my school's band trip for a week. Yeah, it was a little harder than I expected to try and type on a computer some few thousand miles away… Then… I just got uninspired. So, sorry that it took so long to get this up.

Anyway, during my spring break, I took the liberty to play through some of FE9 again. Since I did so, I rediscovered aspects of Oscar's past. Well, I kinda knew it, but my memory was foggy, so I didn't know the details. Now I do. Unfortunately, when I started this story, I did not. So, there were mistakes/loop-holes that I fixed up (Chapter 6). Unfortunately, the game didn't make the 3 Brothers' history very clear, and nothing that I saw mentioned their mother… So, I took the liberty of making that part up. Anyway, the changes weren't that big, but if you want you can go back and read the re-edited chapter. I just mentioned all this in case I bring it up in the future, and you're confused about how it clashes with what I previously wrote.

So, whether or not you read what I rewrote, here's the next chapter! By the way, I believe that this chapter is what many of you have been waiting for…

Oscar: Uh-oh… Why am I scared?

FireEdge: Well, I don't know. Maybe because this is the…CONFESSION chapter?! AHAHAHAHA!

Oscar: Oh dear… -Runs away-

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate **

**Chapter 9**

Astrid bit her bottom lip, looking down at the floor shamefully. The look on Gatrie's face was so… heartbreaking. Was that how she looked when Arwine had walked away from her all those years ago? She wished that there was something else that she could tell him. However, there wasn't; what could she possibly say that would ease the pain of her revelation? No, there was no salve for a shattered heart.

"… Who's the guy?" Gatrie asked finally, breaking the silence between them.

"P-Pardon?"

"Who is it that stole your heart? Don't try and tell me that you're denying me because of your fiancé. I _know_ that there must be someone else. Who is it?" the knight said resolutely. Why was he even asking? He already knew the answer. Maybe it was because there was still this small flame of hope that wished for her to say something else.

"Well… I… I…" Astrid sighed, unable to continue. She couldn't say it; she couldn't just come out and _tell_ Gatrie who it was that she _thought_ that she was in love with. She was pretty sure that she had fallen for Oscar. However, after thinking about it over and over again, she realized that she didn't really know what love was.

"Is it Oscar?" he demanded unexpectedly. Gatrie's heart clenched as he saw the blush cross Astrid's shocked face. She didn't answer him, he didn't need her to. "It _is_, isn't it? It's Oscar… I should've known."

"No… I… I don't _know_ if it's him or not. I'm so confused about all of this. Please don't make this any more difficult than it already is. I care for you very much; you're such a dear friend to me. You've always been by my side, watching over me. It's just that when I'm with you, I feel the same way that I do with my brothers. As much as I want to say that I return your feelings, I just… can't."

"I know," Gatrie replied. Hearing it a second time seemed to make it feel even worse. "I'll concede to Oscar. But _only_ because I want to see you happy…"

"Oh Gatrie…" Astrid murmured, her eyes closed in pain.

_Oh, she's such an angel. Feeling sad for me when she should be happy! Now, now Gatrie, don't cry! Suck it up like a man and let her see you give in to defeat bravely. Drat Oscar and his luck!_ Gatrie thought to himself, and he breathed in deeply to control his emotions.

"Astrid, go. Leave now. I can't bear to see you any longer. Let me nurse my wounds alone," the blond man said finally.

"Gatrie…"

"I'll be fine! Just go!" Astrid looked at the knight sombrely before she walked out of Gatrie's room. If only life was not so unfair.

* * *

Gatrie strode down the hallway of Fort Pinell, heading towards the room of a specific person. As he neared the door of said room, he could hear voices coming from inside. 

"BOYD! Give it BACK!"

"No way! Why do _you_ get a new bow?! It's a silver one, too!"

"Well that's 'cause I needed a new one! Anyway, I'm _better_ than you! _That's_ why I get it!"

"Why you little—! You did NOT just say that!"

"Waaah! Oscar! Boyd's trying to hit me!!"

"Boyd! Stop it!"

"You little brat! You're always crying to Oscar, you baby!"

_On second thought, do I really want to go in there?_ Gatrie thought to himself, hand half raised to knock. Shrugging, he knocked loudly so that it could be heard past the brothers' arguing.

"Guys, quiet down, someone's at the door!" Oscar yelled, opening the door. "Oh, Gatrie! What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk. Now."

"Well… okay, if that's what you want," the paladin replied hesitantly. "I'll be right back; don't kill each other."

"What?! Where are you going?"

"Oscar! NO! Boyd's gonna hurt me!"

"I'll be _right back_," he repeated, shutting the door behind him. "So, Gatrie, what did you want to talk about?"

"You're going to love this, but let me tell you, I'm only doing this because it benefits Astrid," Gatrie started.

"What are you talking about, Gatrie?" Oscar asked suspiciously. He wasn't sure that he liked where this conversation was going, and it had only started.

"I… give in to you, Oscar. You've _won_. I don't know how you did it, but you managed to steal the heart of my beloved Astrid. You've so ensnared her with your claws that I can't even _begin_ to free her from your grasps!"

"Whoa, hold on a second, Gatrie! What in the _world_ are you rambling on about?" Oscar demanded, cutting the other man off abruptly.

"What do you _think_? Astrid chose _you_ over _me_! Do I _have_ to humiliate myself further?" growled Gatrie with a glare.

"… And how do you know that?" the paladin asked, his mind was still a little slow to absorb what Gatrie was saying. Or maybe he just didn't believe what he heard. Either way, he could feel his heart quicken a little.

"Because she _told_ me, you dunce! I revealed to her my heartfelt feelings, but she denied me. Oh, but she was such a sweet angel while she was doing it," Gatrie sighed a little as he remembered her sad face. "Still, you had _better_ treat her good! I swear, if you try and pull something—"

"Gatrie, she has a fiancé! _Nothing_ is going to happen between us," Oscar stated solemnly. "I don't know—"

"Don't you dare say that!" Gatrie snarled, grabbing Oscar by the collar and slamming him up against the wall. "I didn't give up on her so that _you_ could let her go marry that old moneybag! The only reason I gave in was because I knew that she would be happier with you than me! You know just as well as I do that she doesn't want to marry her fiancé; she doesn't love him! Now, you're going to make her happy by saving her from that fate so that I don't look like a complete fool by giving her up!"

"… Gatrie… put me down," the green-haired man said firmly, his usually squinting eyes now open. They held a resolute light in them, but his face remained impassive.

"No. Answer me first. Are you going to do as I said?"

"… I don't know. I've already admitted that I have feelings for her. But think about it, Gatrie. Will I really be making her happy if I whisked her away from her marriage? If I did so, she would be shunned by her family, a disgrace among the nobility of Begnion for eloping with a _mercenary_? Would she be happy with being a human scandal?"

"Well you wouldn't know unless you tried, now would you?" Gatrie loosened his grip on Oscar and backed away from the other man. "I'll see you later, and the next time I do, I expect you to have wrapped up this little issue. If you do something stupid, I will punch you _much_ harder than last time."

Oscar straightened the collar of his shirt as the knight walked away. His mouth was set in a tight line, and he stared at the wall unblinkingly.

Wasn't this what he wanted? For Gatrie to stop pestering him about being rivals for love? Now he had it; Gatrie had given up on Astrid—and apparently, she liked him back. However, what was he supposed to do? He couldn't possibly just tell Astrid how he felt. Her situation was awkward enough with Gatrie confessing his feelings.

The paladin knew of the ways of nobility. As he had told Gatrie, if Astrid did decide to run off with him and leave her fiancé, she would be a shame to all of Begnion's high class. She would be the object of nasty gossip and rumours; he didn't want her to go through that. He wasn't sure what he was going to tell Gatrie the next time that he saw him, but there wasn't anything else that he could do.

If he was so decided about what he was going to do about this situation, why was his head inflicted by a massive migraine? Why did he want to yell out in frustration and break something?

_Because you want to do just what Gatrie told you to, you idiot… Maybe I should just try and talk to her… At least then I won't have any regrets or doubt. Not to mention, Gatrie will be off my back once and for all. But… now is not a good time; not with a fight as important as the one for Nados coming up. Perhaps when all of this is over…_

* * *

"Astrid… I know that I'm only succeeding in making your life more difficult than it already is. But, I feel that I really need to tell you this, before anything else can happen…" Oscar said slowly, his gaze not looking at her directly. He could not believe that he was doing this! This was selfish; he was putting her in such an awkward situation just so that he could feel better after. If only he could take back what he said, but it was already too late. 

Astrid held her breath and she thought that her heart had stopped beating. Her face was beginning to flush; she had a feeling that she knew exactly what he was about to say. Actually, she felt very delighted, but also anxious. If she was right, what would she say? Turning down Gatrie would be nothing compared to what she was about to do next…

"Astrid, I've known you for nearly a year, and since the first day I met you I've been fascinated with you. Before I knew it, I'd started to develop a… fondness for you. I really did try hard to beat it down and subdue it, especially when I found out about your fiancé. However, even now, I haven't succeeded," continued the paladin, his beautiful green eyes finally meeting hers for an instance. The next it was looking away again, his mouth tight. "I'm really not good at this… I-I don't think that there's anything else that I can really say…"

He couldn't bring his eyes to meet hers, instead he gazed at a far off point past her head. Confessing to her was supposed to take a weight off of his shoulders; however it seemed to have had the opposite effect. His chest was even tighter than when he had started talking.

_Dammit, why did I listen to Gatrie? I knew that this was going to turn out bad! She can't even say anything! Argh! You idiot, Oscar!_

All that Astrid could do was stare at Oscar's chest, finding it hard to now meet his gaze. Before when she had been with Oscar, she felt giddy and happy. Now, a strange prickling feeling took over her insides and she could even feel it crawling up her throat. She wanted to say something; that she felt the same way. However, the fact that she had a fiancé kept sneaking back in to stop her from telling him what she really wanted.

Why couldn't she just tell him that she felt the same way? That she wanted to leave her fiancé and live a life that _she_ made for herself? Maybe it was because she was still afraid of how her family would react. Her parents would be furious, they might even disown her; was she ready for that? Could she handle the consequences of disobeying her family? However, she really did not want to end up like her sisters. She wanted to be happy; was it wrong to want that?

"Astrid? You need time to think, don't you? I know that what I said isn't something that can be easily digested. I'll head back to camp. Good night, Astrid," the paladin said, interrupting her inner conflict. Oscar looked at her face briefly before walking back towards the camp.

The paladin closed her eyes; she could feel the familiar sensation of tears threatening to come out. If only she had the courage to defy her family…

* * *

Astrid shook her head, coming out from her reveries. It had been almost two weeks since Oscar had confessed to her. Now, they were a day's ride from Melior. The final battle was upon them, and she still hadn't found the guts to talk to Oscar. Then again, there wasn't anything that she could tell him; she was still undecided as to what she would actually tell him. To choose between her family and her own desires was a decision that she never thought that she would have to make. However, she couldn't stop thinking of the fact that she owed everything to her family; they only wanted her to live a privileged life—even if they wanted the prestige of Raul's title. 

Still, she had to say _something_ to Oscar; it wasn't fair if she didn't. After all, with the last battle coming, there might not be a better chance to tell him. Gathering up all the nerve that she had, she approached Oscar's tent.

"Ah… Oscar?" she called, peeking inside. The noblewoman saw the green-haired man sitting on the small cot, sharpening his lance. His other equipment lay sprawled on the floor. "Oh, I'm sorry, are you busy?"

"No, I'm just polishing and sharpening my gear," he replied with a soft smile. Though it was well hidden, Astrid could see that he was trying very hard to keep a casual demeanour. "Um, here, sit down."

Astrid sat down on the cot beside the other paladin. For a few minutes, they sat in silence; only the whetstone's scraping against the spear blade broke the quiet.

"Um… Oscar, I'm sorry that I didn't speak with you before now. It's just been… difficult to come to a decision—"

"Astrid," Oscar interrupted, looking up from his lance. "I know that it must have taken you a long time to get up enough courage to come talk to me again, but… I'd like it if you waited until after the battle before you tell me your choice. I know I'm acting selfish, but I have a feeling that—no matter what your decision may be—what I hear from you will distract me from the battle. Sorry if that sounds silly, but… I really do want to do my best in the coming battle. I'm not sure why I even went and told you how I felt if I was going to be like this a few weeks later." The paladin let out a sheepish laugh, his eyes staring at the weapon in his hands again.

"No, I understand what you mean. To tell the truth, I hadn't really decided anything anyway. I just thought that I should talk to you; the next few days are bound to be hectic," Astrid replied, more than a little relieved. "I guess that I should… go now…"

"I'll see you later, I guess," the green-haired man added with a nod. He continued to stare at the doorway of his tent once she had exited and let out a sigh. "Oscar, you big idiot. Why did you listen to Gatrie and go tell her how you felt. Now things are even _more_ awkward between us… … … I shouldn't be putting her in such a compromising situation. I don't know what Gatrie thought, but it's obvious now that she wasn't just waiting around for some romantic stranger to whisk her away. The next time I see her, I'll tell her to stay with her family. What would she want with a mercenary life anyway?"

* * *

Astrid was feeling rather overwhelmed. It seemed as if only hours after the battle, they were now in the midst of a party. Count Bastian really was some sort of miracle worker. Really, where did all of this food come from? There was even a quartet of musicians. Either way, despite the exciting environment, she felt exhausted; the battle had been long and taxing. 

_Maybe I'll turn in early. I never was one for these big parties._ Astrid finished her drink and headed towards the exit. Tomorrow, she would have to think of where she would go… and of what she would say to Oscar. As if to answer her thought, her eyes fell upon a trio of young men.

"Boyd! Don't just _gobble_ up food like that!" The paladin exclaimed as he wrestled with his younger brother.

"I'm _hungry_! There's plenty for you, too!"

"That's not what I was talking about! Stop being such a pig!"

"Haha! Boyd's a pig! Boyd's a pig! Oink, Oink!"

"QUIET, PEEWEE!"

It wasn't long before the three of them were caught up in a small tussle. The noblewoman couldn't help but smile broadly as she watched them. It had been a while since she'd seen Oscar in such a carefree mood. They reminded her of her own siblings. She did miss them.

Looking away, she walked out of the large hall and started towards her room. Before she had walked more than a few feet, a soldier approached her.

"Excuse me, you're Lady Astrid of House Damiell, correct?"

"Ah, yes, that's me. Can I help you?"

"There was a message that arrived for you…" The soldier fished out a piece of paper from a bag on his back. "Here you go!"

"Thank you very much. Good night to you," Astrid replied with a smile as she took the letter from him. Walking to her room, she stared nervously at the paper in her hands. It held the insignia of House Damiell upon the small wax seal.

Closing the door to her room, she sat down on her bed and gingerly broke the seal. The crack of the wax was like the click of a lock; somehow, she knew that whatever was contained in this letter would seal her fate.

_Dear Astrid,  
_

_It has taken us many months to find you. We would've never imagined that you would be travelling with the Crimean rebels. I must say that we are relieved to find you unharmed. Once we heard that the Crimeans were on the verge of capturing the capital, we immediately sent a messenger to Melior. Hopefully, this has reached you safely. _

_However, your game must end, now. Lord Raul has found out about your little escapade and he is not at all pleased that his fiancée is gallivanting about with a group of ragtag soldiers. Your brothers and Lord Raul will be travelling to Toha. We expect you to meet them there as soon as possible. Once you are safe and sound again in Begnion, we will discuss your wedding. I long to see you again._

_With love, your father_

* * *

Well, there's the end of that chapter! Sorry that it's kinda choppy and jumps around a lot. I'm trying to move the story along and I had to like fast-forward the time a bit. Anyway, I had a bit of trouble with getting the emotions across during the scenes with Oscar and Astrid, but I hope that I didn't disappoint too much. 

Oscar: Astrid's going back home? Wasn't she supposed to join the Begnion knights?

FireEdge: Pfft, did you _really_ think that I was going to follow the game script?

Oscar: No, but it would probably make my life easier.

FireEdge: Oh no, believe me, your life is going to get _much_ more harder. Ahahahahahaha! … I'm not a sadist, I swear. Anyway, stay tuned to see what happens next time.

Oscar: … Please review…

--FireEdge--


	10. Chapter 10

I've basically lost track of time, what with exams and other such things related to the end of the school year. Then, the usual summer laziness kicked in. Anyway, despite my urge to go run outside and play (which actually translates to 'read and sleep'), I've decided that I'd write the next chapter instead! Aren't I nice?

Oscar: You certainly are… So, we're going to find out what happens to Astrid this chapter right?

FireEdge: Yup, Astrid's going home… Oh noes, what will happen when she sees her family and fiancé? More importantly, what about Oscar?!

Oscar: Yes, what about me, indeed.

FireEdge: Well, I hope you enjoy the chapter (I know I will).

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Chapter 10**

Oscar looked up briefly as he managed to put Boyd in a headlock, his other hand grasping a large plate of food whose contents threatened to spill over. His grip on Boyd loosened a fraction as he caught sight of Astrid leaving the room. Taking advantage of Oscar letting up on his neck, Boyd managed to break free. Pulling loose so suddenly sent the two green-haired beorc sprawling onto the floor, the plate of food clattering on the floor in a messy pile.

"Look what you've done, Boyd!" Oscar sighed as he stood up and gingerly brushed some food off of his beige pants and green tunic. What a shame, the green shirt was the only piece of nice clothing he owned.

"It wasn't _my_ fault! _You're_ the one who put me in a headlock!"

"Only because you were being such a pig," he retorted. "Whatever, I'm going to go clean myself up." Without another word, Oscar quickly hurried out of the room, his intentions far from cleaning his clothes.

Stepping into the darker and quieter corridor, Oscar looked around. Which way had Astrid gone? He caught sight of a nearby guard and approached him, asking if he'd seen which way the other paladin had gone.

Without his usual bulk of armour on, Oscar moved swiftly down the long empty halls in search of Astrid's room. Soon, he found himself in a hallway filled with guest rooms. He had no idea which one belonged to Astrid, so he decided to knock on each one. Eventually, behind one door, he heard a shuffling sound and the clack of a drawer before footsteps approached the door.

"Who is it—Oscar!" Astrid exclaimed as she pulled the door open. "I thought that you were still at the party."

"Well, I was. But then… there was an accident," he replied, gesturing to his somewhat stained clothing. "Anyway, that's not the point. I just… I wanted to talk to you. You know, now that everything's settled down."

"Oh… um, right. Ah, come in, I suppose," she said slowly, feeling her face heat up slightly. As Oscar stepped past her, she shut the door.

The two stood in an awkward silence for several minutes; neither knowing what to say next. Swallowing, Astrid decided that she should break the silence. She walked over slowly to the desk beside her bed. Pulling open the top drawer, she took out her father's letter.

"I received a letter from my father today…" she said tentatively, turning to face Oscar, but not looking at him. "You can read it, if you'd like."

The green-haired man took the letter from her and opened it, scanning its contents. He continued to stare at it even after he had finished reading. His heart felt heavier as he let the words process through his brain. His confession had meant _nothing_; she was going home, to marry this Lord Raul. It didn't matter whether or not she returned his feelings. Her family would be waiting for her in Toha; they would find her even if she decided not to meet them.

"I… I guess that you'll be leaving… tomorrow," Oscar said slowly, not looking up from the letter. He had to control his grip on the paper, making sure that he didn't crumple it in his fists.

"… Yes… I plan to speak with Ike later this evening after I've packed," she answered, her voice cracking ever so slightly. "I'm… I'm very glad that I've met all of you. Especially you, Oscar. I don't think that I've ever felt this way about someone before. Every time I'm with you, I feel calm, yet… excited at the same time. I always look forward to seeing you, and I've cherished all the time we've spent together. I wish that I'd met you earlier in my life and not during this war. Maybe, then, things… might've been different."

By this point, tears had formed in her eyes, on the very brink of spilling over. They were shoved off the ledge and trickled down when she was suddenly pulled into a tight embrace. His arms were wrapped unyieldingly around her torso, his head nestled on her shoulder and his hair brushing her cheek. She closed her eyes and her own arms encircled his body, pulling herself closer, if that were possible, to him.

"I'm… I'm sorry Oscar. I'll never forget you."

"… I know." His head shifted slightly and she could feel his breath on her cheek. She felt her heart hammer a little quicker, and her grip loosened involuntarily. Then, as suddenly as she had released the tension in her arms, he pulled away.

Oscar looked at her, his emerald eyes open and staring into her own amber pools. His green orbs were fogged with pain, guilt and a repressed longing. He opened his mouth to say something, but then stopped. Pursing his lips for a moment, as if to repress what he really wanted to say, he finally spoke again.

"I'll… I'll see you off tomorrow… Good night, Astrid." His eyes returned to its normal squint as he closed them before turning and going out the door.

Somehow, seeing Oscar go hurt much, much more than watching Arwine walking away.

* * *

"Elijah! Joel!" Astrid cried, throwing herself into Joel's arms with Elijah's single hand resting on her shoulder. 

After a moment, she pulled back and looked up into her twin brothers' faces. They still looked the same as they had the last time she'd seen them, though they seemed older. Dark brown hair and brown eyes adorned their identical faces. However, a beard graced Elijah's face and his left arm was only a stub jutting out from his shoulder.

"Astrid… You don't know how worried we've all been," Elijah said softly, his hand stroking her head.

"… I would say that I'm sorry, but… I'm not. I mean, I am for making you worry, but not for joining the Crimean army," she replied, looking at the ground, tears stinging her eyes. She could still see Oscar's face from that night almost a week ago.

"What's the matter, sister dear? We thought you'd be happy to see us, but here you are looking like you're about to cry," remarked Joel.

"… I'm tired, I think I'll retire. We're setting sail soon anyway, correct?" she replied, ignoring Joel's observation. She had forgotten how well her brothers knew her. After years of protecting her and beating up bullies, it was child's play for them to notice that she was upset. However, Oscar was something that she was certainly _not_ going to discuss with them.

Giving both Joel and Elijah a kiss on the cheek, she led her horse onto the ship and handed the mare over to one of the crew. Taking her bags off, she went below deck. What she really wanted right now was a long, preferably dreamless, sleep. Of course, fate hated her.

"My dear Astrid," drawled an unpleasantly familiar voice.

"… Lord Raul," she greeted, stiffening as the older man approached her. Ah, her dear fiancé; a tall, broad-shouldered man with reddish hair and a matching moustache and beard. Despite a few lines around his mouth and cold chestnut eyes, he really wasn't that unattractive. Astrid knew that there were many other noblewomen who would jump at the chance to marry the taciturn baron.

However, rather than seeing his aloofness as dignity, she saw it as cold-hearted indifference. The thought of marrying such an unfeeling man made her spine prickle. Anyway, how was she to live the rest of her life with a man that she had no feelings for what-so-ever? As they say: 'money can't buy happiness'.

"How do you do, my dear?" he asked, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. Maybe he wouldn't be so bad if his smile actually reached his cold eyes.

"Tired, thank you. If you would excuse me, I would like to rest. My journey has been long," Astrid replied curtly, her eyes refusing to look at him.

"… Of course. I will speak with you when you've recovered from your voyage." Without giving him another look, Astrid hurried away. She had no intention of speaking with him again, if she could help it.

Once she had enclosed herself in her small cabin, she collapsed on her bed and stared up at the roof of her room.

Meanwhile, on deck, her two brothers contemplated Astrid's less than enthusiastic greeting. She was certainly no longer the little girl that was prone to crying and who always ran for them when something bad happened.

"She's so distant. I wonder what happened to her throughout her travels," Joel wondered aloud, his brown eyes wandering around the port of Toha listlessly. "I mean, I wasn't expecting her to be bubbly, but… well, I thought that she might be happier."

"It was a war, Joel, that's bound to change anyone. Look at me; I'm armless now," replied the other man dryly as he joined his brother, his one arm leaning against the side of the boat.

"No, I don't think that that's the case. She doesn't seem traumatized or haggard. Just… sad."

* * *

"Astrid!" Lord Damiell cried as he descended the steps and pulled his daughter into an embrace, giving her a kiss on the top of her head. Astrid was quite taken aback by her father's sudden affectionate display; he was usually quite reserved. 

"Astrid, my dear, everyone has been very worried," her mother added, kissing her on both cheeks.

"I apologize profusely, but it wasn't as if I could not take care of myself," she replied, unable to keep a hint of bitterness out of her voice.

Elijah and Joel regarded her curiously once more. They still found it peculiar that Astrid was filled with anything remotely close to resentment. Something definitely had happened during her journey. The two brothers looked at each other and silently assented to find out later.

"Lord Damiell. My dear lady," a voice from behind them greeted. Stepping aside, the two brothers let Lord Raul walk past them towards their sister and parents.

"Lord Raul, you had a pleasant trip, I hope?" Lady Damiell asked pleasantly, curtsying and allowing the nobleman to kiss her hand.

"Yes, though I am disappointed with my fiancée. She did not leave her cabin at all throughout our voyage; not even during mealtimes. Her brothers had to bring the food to her door" he drawled, his eyes flickering to the stony Astrid.

"My apologies, my lord," Astrid murmured and bowed, very aware of the holes her mother was drilling into her head with her gaze.

"No need, my dear, you were exhausted and no doubt shaken from the long war. Of course, I hope you'll be less aloof come our wedding day," Raul replied, kissing her hand. "I think I'll retire early and allow you all to enjoy Astrid's return."

The Damiell family remained quiet as Raul made his way into the manor with his servants. Astrid stood silently, staring at a section of wall, dreading what her parents would say to her next. Her mother would certainly be angry with her behaviour to Raul during their trip. Normally, she would've been much more polite, but she was only starting to cope with her farewell to the Crimean Liberation Army. They had been like her family for the past year and now she was suddenly ripped away from them. However, one thing kept tearing at her; the look on Oscar's face the morning she had departed.

"So, have Diane, Elizabeth or Susan returned?" Joel asked suddenly. He had sensed the tension in the air, and predicted that his mother would harp on Astrid any second.

"No, but they will all be here for the wedding," Lord Damiel responded. His brown eyes fell upon Astrid. "The wedding will take place in two months. That should give you adequate time to recover from your long journey. Lord Raul is impatient and you're lucky he didn't make the wedding next week. We will start the preparations in a few days."

"Yes, Father," Astrid answered solemnly. "I think that I will retire as well, if that's all right."

"Of course it is, Astrid," Elijah replied before his parents could. "Joel and I will accompany you."

"That's quite all right, you needn't—"

"We insist," said Joel forcefully as he ordered a groom to take Astrid's mount. "You there, take Lady Astrid's bag."

With a weak smile she allowed her two elder brothers to escort her up to her room, followed by a couple of servants. Inside she was very grateful that her brothers had rescued her from her parents. She really couldn't deal with them just yet.

"So, Astrid… If you're not up to it, you don't have to tell us. But when you're ready, Joel and I are here to lend an ear. We know how hard war can be, and if you need us, just call," Elijah said as they stopped outside Astrid's room.

"Thank you, brother… Perhaps another day, I'd like to rest for now," she replied with another small smile.

Entering her room, she closed and locked her door after the servants deposited her belongings. Looking around, she found it odd to be sleeping in her own room after so long. Still, it was comforting.

Not bothering to clean herself up, she stripped off her armour and collapsed on top of her covers. Closing her eyes, she fell asleep with an image of Oscar's face haunting her thoughts.

* * *

"Oscar!!" Rolf hollered, skidding into the kitchen. 

"What is it, Rolf?" the paladin asked, looking up from the lunch he was preparing for the mercenaries.

"It's a letter. For you. It's pretty fancy looking," the young boy replied, handing him the sealed paper.

Putting down the knife in his hand, Oscar took the letter. It was folded neatly with a small wax seal. He didn't recognize the coat of arms, which meant that it was definitely not from Melior.

_Thank goodness. It's not Kieran trying to send me another recruitment letter…_ Oscar sighed inwardly as he broke the seal, and scanned the contents quickly.

"Who's it from, Oscar? Oscar? You're making a face… What's wrong?" asked Rolf anxiously. His brother's visage seemed both shocked and pained at the same time.

"… Nothing… Where's Gatrie?"

"Gatrie? Um… He's outside, I think, sparring with Ike or someth—Hey! Oscar, what's going on?!" Rolf exclaimed as his brother briskly left the kitchen. "What's _his_ hurry?"

Careful not to crumple the letter in his hand, Oscar bolted outside. His eyes soon fell upon Gatrie and Ike, clashing weapons.

"Gatrie!" he called as he neared the pair. "Gatrie! I have something to show you."

"What is it, Oscar? Geez, did someone die? Your face is serious enough," Gatrie remarked as he propped his spear up against a tree and took the letter from the other man. The blond man read the letter, and his expression soon turned from lazy and carefree to horrified. "This… This is… A _month_?! It would take us two weeks to get there… We'll have to leave next—Wait, Oscar, you're _going_ right?"

"Ah… Well…" Oscar looked away from the blond knight.

"You had_ better_ go! Don't you see what this means?!"

"What is that, Gatrie? Why are you making such a fuss?" demanded Ike, taking the paper from Gatrie's hand. His sharp eyes flickered down the letter quickly. "An invitation to Astrid's wedding? She's invited all the mercenaries, but it's not practical if we all go. You two were closest to her; you guys can go if you want. Just two of us missing won't be too big a deal."

"That's all right, Ike, I don't think I'll go," Oscar replied.

"Oh NO you don't! You and I are both going! We'll leave next week! No, we'll leave tomorrow! This is a _disaster_, we have to stop it!!" Gatrie cried, grabbing Oscar by the collar. So busy were the two that they didn't notice Ike shrug and leave.

"Gatrie, I think it's my choice if I want to go to her wedding or not," the green-haired man said calmly.

"You dolt, we're not going to _attend _her wedding, we're going to stop it!" Gatrie snarled.

"Have you lost your mind?!" retorted Oscar, finally freeing himself from the other man's grip. "You've already made me go through with so many of your ridiculous plans and look where they've landed me! I've already let go of this, I think that it's time you did as well. Ike, tell him he's mad! Ike? Shoot, he's gone."

"You're a liar, Oscar! There's no way that you've gotten over her! I can see it in your face!"

"Gatrie, don't assume things—"

"Yeah, then why were you so anxious to show me that invitation? You could've given it to Ike later and see if anyone wanted to go. But no, you ran straight to me with the look of someone who was about to be hanged! You know as well as I do that you still love her! I _told_ you before that I only gave up to you because I thought that you were worthy of her! Don't you _dare_ go back on your word now! We are leaving tomorrow and we're going to make things right! Now, excuse me, but I need to pack." Shoving Oscar aside, Gatrie stormed off.

Oscar stared resolutely at the nearby tree, his brows furrowed. He couldn't believe that Gatrie had read him so easily. It was true; he still had feelings for Astrid. However, denying them was much easier than coping with the fact that he couldn't have her.

_I have a feeling that this is going to turn out badly. _Very

* * *

Aaaaand, there we have it: the end of our chapter. I rather liked how the scene between Astrid and Oscar turned out. Astrid's meetings with her brothers and her family are scenes that I am a little less confidant about, so opinions on those would be appreciated. 

Oscar: Why does Gatrie always drag me into such troublesome situations?

FireEdge: Because you wouldn't drag yourself into them. Anyway, overzealous Gatrie's fun to write (hey, is it just me, or is he starting to become like Kieran? O.o). So, next chapter should be rather interesting… for me (and you readers) that is.

Oscar: Please stop looking at me with that Cheshire cat grin… Um, please review.

--FireEdge--


	11. Chapter 11

Don't you just love how summer makes you supremely lazy? So, instead of being a good girl and coming to write this chapter, I spent the past month or so reading (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, 'nuff said) and playing games. However, I realized that I'm going to be very busy next week, so I figured that I'd better get my butt to the computer.

Oscar: Yes, so that you could get out a chapter before school rolled around again?

FireEdge: YOU'RE LYING! There's no such thing as school!!!

Oscar: … Really mature.

FireEdge: … … …

Oscar: Right, on with the chapter. I'm sure everyone's looking forward to my eminent embarrassment as Gatrie makes a fool of the two of us.

FireEdge: wOOt!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Chapter 11**

"Well, we're nearly there, Oscar!" Gatrie exclaimed triumphantly as he returned to where Oscar stood with their tethered horses. "Or at least that guy back there said so… Anyway, assuming he's right, we'll be there tomorrow!"

"Great," mumbled Oscar. He still couldn't believe that he had, a little less than two weeks ago, agreed to do this. Now that they were only a day's ride from their destination, Oscar felt even worse. The thought that he would soon see Astrid saying her vows to some other man didn't sit too well with him. His stomach was squirming nervously and he had the urge to retch. Unfortunately, it was _definitely_ too late to turn back. Of course, he had tried, but Gatrie always managed to catch him.

"Geeze, you're looking pale again. You'd think that this was your _own_ wedding… Not that it _can't_ be," remarked Gatrie, grabbing the reins of his horse to which he gave a disgruntled glare. Really, sometimes he thought that the horse's sole ambition in life was to give him the sorest backside possible.

"Excuse me?" demanded Oscar, just catching Gatrie's last sentence as he mounted his own steed. "I thought that we were agreed that we weren't going to do anything that would get us landed in prison."

"Well, I still think that if we _convinced_ Astrid to leave with us, it wouldn't count as kidnapping her and completely trashing her wedding. After all, she'd be a _willing_ hostage," Gatrie replied as he struggled to pull himself up into the saddle. "Curse you, you stupid horse! Stop moving!"

With a sigh, Oscar reached down and grabbed the gelding by the bridle and forced it to hold still.

"No, we're going to go and congratulate the… happy couple, and then we'll stay for the festivities. I'm sure that there will be plenty of good food, and after we snag some, we'll be off as soon as possible," Oscar said, releasing the horse as Gatrie finally seated himself. His stomach rolled again, and he felt his chest tighten.

"Sure, sure," Gatrie retorted with a roll of his eyes. "Right, let's get moving then! Maybe once you're there and actually _see_ her, you'll be more willing to go through with my plan. Which is pure _genius_, by the way."

Oscar couldn't help but smile a bit. He was glad that he and Gatrie were friends again. Ashera knew how horrible it was when Gatrie was jumping down his throat every few minutes. Though Oscar would gladly choose to keep company with Ike instead, being around Gatrie was rather invigorating. Maybe it was because the blond man exuded such an unwavering confidence (or was it his overbearing obnoxiousness?) that made you feel like anything you tried was possible.

_I'd better be careful. I don't want Gatrie to worm his way inside my head and make me do something I'll regret. Just got to remember to keep my emotions in check._ However, Oscar knew perfectly well what was to come. He knew that he wouldn't fall prey to Gatrie's insane plans. On the contrary, he was going to do the opposite.

* * *

Astrid's head jerked up as someone rapped on her door. A maid stepped in and announced that her sisters had arrived and were wondering if they could see her. 

"Of course! Send them up right away!" she exclaimed, excitement filling her veins. It had been several years since she had seen any of her sisters, and her heart ached to look them in the face again.

As the maid left, Astrid quickly threw a robe over her shift. Though it was her wedding day today, she had not had the heart to dress yet. It was still early, anyway. The longer she could put it off, the better she felt. Of course, soon her mother would most likely send up some maids to force her into her dress.

The paladin's auburn eyes fell upon her wedding gown, resting serenely on a mannequin. With sleeves that would bare the tops of her shoulders and collarbone and a bodice that had been tailored to fit her perfectly, it really was a gorgeous dress. If it wasn't to Raul that she was being married to, she would have no qualms to putting it on. Soon, Astrid had so lost herself in the folds of the thin, silky skirts that she was surprised when she heard another knock on the door.

She had only started to stand, when the door burst open and three eloquently dressed women bustled in.

"Astrid!" her three sisters exclaimed, the etiquette that had been drilled into them at a young age forgotten as they swarmed upon their youngest sibling.

For a moment, Astrid was lost beneath a flurry of hugs and kisses. Slightly dazed, she found herself, several seconds later, sitting on her bed with her three sisters standing in front of her. They all appeared older and wearier than they had been when she last saw them. Now that she thought about it, she probably did too, albeit for different reasons. Still, despite the hardships they faced in their own homes, they all wore smiles on their faces.

"How many years has it been now since I've seen you last? Since I've seen _any_ of you?" Susan, the eldest of all her siblings at twenty-seven, asked. She resembled Astrid in looks, with black hair and auburn eyes, though her hair was cut short so that her locks licked at her earlobes.

"I've lost track, but it's so good to see all of you at once," replied Elizabeth, the second-youngest. Most fair-haired of her siblings, she wore her medium-brown hair in a stylish bun.

"Now we only need Elijah and Joel to complete the family reunion," agreed Diane, fourth eldest after Susan, Elijah and Joel. Her dark brown hair fell in a grand curtain down her back, adorned here and there with thin gold chains and jewels that brought out the colour in her nearly tawny coloured eyes.

"Maybe later. I think that it's better if it's just us girls for now. After all, it _is_ Astrid's turn to become a bride," said Elizabeth with a rueful smile.

"I'd rather that it wasn't," Astrid answered, speaking for the first time. She had finally recovered from the shock of seeing all her three sisters at once.

Immediately, the expressions on her sisters' faces softened. Susan pulled a nearby chair towards her and sat in front of Astrid while her two other siblings placed themselves on either side of her on the bed.

"So, tell us about Raul. I haven't heard much about him before," Susan started, grasping Astrid's hand in her own, their identical eyes staring at each other.

"I don't like him. He's… cold. I don't want to marry him," she replied. Her answer sounded childish and petulant, but she just couldn't find the right words to describe her feelings towards him.

"Sweetheart, we know how you feel, but… there isn't really much we can do," Diane said. "If you're lucky, he may prove to be a better man than he appears. Some are warmer when they are alone in their own homes."

"What? Like _your_ husband?" Elizabeth scoffed. "Don't kid yourself or Astrid for that matter. He's going to turn out just like the rest of them, like _our_ husbands."

"Don't say that, Elizabeth," scolded Susan. "Diane's—"

"It's all right, Susan. I'm not a child; I don't need anyone to comfort me. Elizabeth's right, I have a feeling that I'll encounter the same fate as you three," Astrid interrupted. "However, I'm... going to make the most of it. I've had a lot of time to think these past two months. The war, as… as well as the other soldiers, has taught me many important lessons. I can't run away from this any more. I don't want to marry Raul, I don't think that I ever will, but…but…"

Astrid's voice faltered, tears beginning to choke her speech. She had been fighting it off, but as she spoke more and more, she was reminded of her companions from the war. As she shut her eyes, she could see them in her mind's eye. She could see Makalov, his face apologetic when he returned her pendant; Gatrie tearing down the battlefield to lance a nearby enemy that threatened her livelihood and… Oscar, staring at the horizon, his emerald eyes gleaming in the evening. She could almost feel his arms around her once more, his breath on her cheek.

"Oh, Astrid. You don't have to be so tough, it's all right," Diane cooed, pulling Astrid into her arms. "You don't have to pretend that you're fine with the marriage, we understand."

"N-No, that's… not why I'm crying," Astrid murmured, regaining her voice.

"Then, what's wrong? I can't imagine what else could be more tragic than your marriage to Raul," Elizabeth asked.

The younger woman frowned, unsure whether she should tell her sisters what was bothering her. A month ago, she had been dying for this moment. Her sisters were the only ones she could confide to about a matter such as this. However, now that she thought about it, would they really be able to console her? Had any of them had the chance to fall in love with someone before they were betrothed?

"Astrid? You can tell us anything, you know that," Susan said tenderly.

However, before Astrid could make up her mind, the door slammed open for the second time that day.

"A gathering without us? We're hurt," Joel exclaimed as he and Elijah trooped into the bedroom.

"Elijah! Your arm! Oh, I couldn't believe it when I heard about it!" Elizabeth cried as she jumped up and greeted her elder brothers.

Astrid sighed with relief as her sisters became distracted with Elijah and Joel's presence. Maybe she wasn't ready yet to talk about Oscar. In fact, she wasn't sure that she ever would; it just hurt too much.

* * *

Funny, how the world looked so much different through a veil, mused Astrid from her bench in the secluded courtyard. Everything looked much grainier and unclear. She couldn't even make out people's faces clearly. For example, that man coming towards her, no doubt a servant fetching her for the ceremony, greatly resembled Gatrie from beneath her veil. Of course, that was impossible. She hadn't invited any of the mercenaries, or anyone from the Liberation Army, she couldn't face them just yet. It was only her longing to see her old friends. Still, he did look remarkably like him with blond hair and that confident gait. 

"Astrid!" the servant called as he neared. Wait… When did a servant call her so familiarly?

"Gatrie?!" she exclaimed, throwing the veil back. She had only kept it on because it had been amusing to try and figure out the identity of people walking past her. A juvenile past-time, but really, there wasn't anything better to do as she waited for her dreaded nuptial.

Sure as day, there was the blond knight that had so faithfully guarded her throughout their journey. Dressed in a neat, blue tunic, he looked different without his usual bulk of armour. However, his face was exactly the same, a beaming smile adorning his lips.

"Astrid! I'm so glad that I found you. This place is huge! I thought for sure that you would be in your room with a bunch of nobles. But you ended up sitting right there in front of me!" Gatrie remarked, pulling Astrid into a big bear hug that she happily returned.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you, but what are you doing here?" Astrid asked as she pulled away, staring at Gatrie incredulously. To her surprise, Gatrie gave her the same look.

"Well, you invited us, didn't you?"

"No. I did not," she answered. Gatrie looked away for a moment, deep in thought. However when he turned back, his gaze was venomous.

"You weren't going to invite us?"

"N-No, that's not what I meant Gatrie! I just… I just couldn't face you all just yet. I mean, it was so painful when I had to leave you all," she babbled, her face heating up. "Oh, but that's not the point! I wonder who sent you the invitation."

"No, _that's_ not the point, either!" retorted Gatrie. "All that matters is that I've found you. Now, we must get away from here! You might want to change into some decent riding clothes; you can double with one of us."

"Wait, Gatrie, what are you talking about?" Astrid demanded, becoming more confused by the second. "And who else is here with you?" However, she thought she knew the answer to the latter. The thought was upsetting her stomach.

"You're going to elope, of course," replied Gatrie, his tone as calm as if he were talking about the weather. "Now, we just have to find Oscar. He was behind me a second ago. Oh, I bet he saw you too and went to hide!"

"Os-Oscar's here, too?" Astrid stammered, her hunch confirmed. Immediately, her heart began to beat faster and she felt an uncomfortable feeling welling in her gut. "Wait, elope? I can't!"

"What do you mean, you _can't_?! Do you _want_ to marry this fancy-pants moneybags?" demanded Gatrie angrily, half dragging her behind him.

"Well, of course I don't, but—" she protested, flushing at his accusation. Really, he should know more than anyone how she felt about this marriage.

"Then, I don't see a problem. Now, where is that—Aha! Oscar, there you are!"

Astrid immediately stopped walking, her sudden stop jerking her hand out of Gatrie's. The knight took no notice, however, and continued to address the green-haired man that had appeared from around the corner.

"Oscar, quickly, help Astrid get her things together! We're leaving right away! I'll be waiting for you at the stables!"

"Gatrie! Don't be ridiculous! We're already been over this, we're _not_ kidnapping Astrid! GATRIE!" Oscar hollered as Gatrie continued swiftly down the corridor, deaf to his companion's protests.

As the knight disappeared around the next corner, Oscar was forced to turn around and face Astrid. However, he was unable to say anything. He could only stare at her, partly because he was stunned by how beautiful she looked in her dress and partly because he really just didn't know how to explain their predicament.

"Ah… You look very nice," the paladin finally managed to say, his gaze falling down to the floor near their feet.

"… Thank you… I…um," she started, biting her lower lip, unsure of what to say. She was starting to feel faint. Maybe it was because she had stopped breathing, she was so nervous.

"You don't have to say anything," Oscar interrupted quickly. "Gatrie's just being stupid. He promised me that he wouldn't pull a stupid stunt like this, but you know him. I'm sure a guard will find him soon and threaten to skewer him; he'll settle down after that."

Astrid's eyes travelled up his body to rest on his face. Though his eyes were indiscernible behind his squint, she knew that his gaze was on the floor. His mouth was set in a deep frown and she could tell that his jaw was clenched. Clearly, seeing her again was painful for him.

"Oscar, I'm sorry. I-I don't know who sent you an invitation. I didn't… I didn't want you to witness this… I wish that I didn't have to be here either," she said slowly, her eyes carefully observing his facial expression.

"No, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have come. I don't know why I let Gatrie talk me into this. I knew that it would end up like this," he replied, finally looking up to meet her gaze. A moment later, he continued on. "In fact, I knew it would be like this the instant I found out that you had a fiancé. No, maybe even before that… I shouldn't have forced my feelings onto you. I was foolish to think that anything good could've come from telling you how I felt. I've only succeeded in making your life more complicated. I'm… I'm sorry Astrid."

Oscar looked at her for a second more, and then turned his back and began to walk away, to find Gatrie and restrain him before he really _did_ get himself killed. Surprisingly, he didn't feel anything. There was just a cold emptiness that filled his chest and stomach.

Astrid's eyes widened as the full significance of what Oscar said sank in. Maybe it was the fact that she knew that she would never see Oscar again. Maybe it was seeing him walk away from her yet again. Or maybe it was just something that she had wanted to do for a long time. Whatever the reason, she could not explain, even years later, what had compelled her to do what she did next.

Her hand reached out and grabbed Oscar's arm, and with unexpected strength, she turned him around to face her. In his surprise, his eyes opened wide and his clear, green eyes bore into hers. The next second, she kissed him full on the lips.

After what felt like an eternity, she pulled back. Oscar could only stare at her, mouth slightly ajar.

"Don't you dare say that this is your fault, because it's not. If not for you, I would've never learnt how it felt to… to be in love. I don't regret meeting you. I only wish that it could've ended differently," she blurted out, only now realizing that she was flushed and slightly panting.

Still, Oscar was speechless. He worked his mouth, trying to force out a word. _Any_ word. Finally, he settled on something. He knew that it was somewhat selfish, but he decided that this would be his final indulgence, before he left her for good. Something to give him closure.

"Astrid, I love you. I don't know how I could've fell in love with you in such a short time, but I did. I don't know what will happen after this, but I know that a part of me will always love you. Goodbye, Astrid, and please live as happy a life as you can. For both of us." Leaning down, he kissed her, putting all his heart into that one gesture, that final gesture.

Suddenly, from somewhere down the hall, a sound broke the couple apart. A sound that would change Oscar's life forever: a roar filled with rage and the indignation of betrayal.

* * *

"You penniless mercenary! How dare you show up here and fraternize with my fiancée! I will not have your presence ruin my wedding," Raul snarled as the guard threw him into the cell. 

Oscar landed upon the stone tiles painfully and felt his back touch the far wall. The steel bars of the door clanged shut and the lock clicked as the guard turned the key.

"Stay there and rot. You're lucky I'm being so lenient. Some lords would have you killed. However, I'm feeling generous as it is my wedding day. Hmph, maybe if you're lucky, my _wife_ might convince me to release you. Of course, it'd take quite a bit of persuading," he said with a smirk.

"You dirty wretch!" Oscar growled, wanting to wipe that smug look off the man's face. However, Raul was gone, already ascending the nearby stairs.

Oscar sighed and turned to face the stone wall behind him. Without any thought to how much it would hurt a second later, he smacked his forehead against it. The man winced and decided that leaving it pressed to the cold stone would be a better idea. Actually, if it wouldn't look completely ridiculous, he would press his face to the cool wall as well. His jaw was still tender from where the nobleman had punched him before; bloody rings. At least he had gotten him back double.

With another sigh, the paladin peeled his face away from the wall and slumped down with his back pressed against it. Vaguely, he realized that the prison was very familiar. In fact, if he wasn't mistaken, he was having a déjà vu. As it would seem, he was now reliving those strange dreams that he had had so many months ago.

_So much for keeping my emotions in check…_ Still, Oscar couldn't help but smile. He must be going crazy, because despite his situation, he felt simply… elated.

* * *

Welly, well, well. I guess those dreams that he had in the earlier chapters weren't so pointless after all, were they? 

Oscar: Though they _were_ a rather poor attempt at hinting to what was coming. You also pretty much recycled them

FireEdge: Hey… Anyway I hope that you enjoyed that chapter. I know I did. It was tough to write that exchange between Oscar and Astrid, but I'm rather satisfied with it (and it was about time they kissed, right?). Just hope that it wasn't _too_ cliché. Though I would've loved to include a riotous food fight courtesy of Gatrie, I figured that that would get Gatrie murdered… Ah well, we can't have everything.

Oscar: Yes, we need him to help me escape… I _am_ going to escape, right?

FireEdge: Well… _Eventually_.

Oscar: … … …

FireEdge: You worry too much! Hahahaha… hah… I'm kidding, you'll be fine. Please review and stay tuned until next time!

--FireEdge--


	12. Chapter 12

Well, surprisingly enough, I managed to update before the end of the month… YAY ME! Okay, so I'm like off by a day, but who's counting? Anyway, there's not much to say right now, but I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Astrid's brothers are going to play a bigger role from now on, not to mention we'll find out what happened to Gatrie, our favourite knight.

Oscar: Will I be set free this chapter?

FireEdge: Maybe. You'll see.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate **

**Chapter 12**

It was official; dungeon cells _sucked_. They were cold, hard and smelled dank. At least they didn't smell as bad as Boyd's old clothes, thankfully. There were no windows either, since it was below ground, but worse of all, it was quiet. Being part of a family with two brothers, and living with a bunch such as the Greil's Mercenaries had caused Oscar to become accustomed to noise.

There was always something to be heard; idle chitchat, arguing, laughing, something breaking. When he was outside, he would hear the sounds of someone training, or sparring. He'd hear the snorts and whinnies of the horses, and the sounds of nature. Even at night, Oscar was surrounded by sounds. Boyd's snoring to be exact and Rolf's occasional sleep talking, or sleep _screaming_ when he had a particularly nasty nightmare.

Either way, Oscar had never been subjected to such silence for a long time. Only the shuffling of the single guard ever broke the stillness. The guards were never keen on talking either. Then again, why would they talk to him for?

So, Oscar lived in silence for two days, or at least he thought it was two days, since he had gotten two meals. However, on his third day, the hush was finally broken… by Gatrie.

It was time for his current guard to go off-duty, to be replaced by a fresh man. To Oscar's great surprise, Gatrie was the new sentry. As soon as the old guard went up the nearby staircase, Gatrie turned to face Oscar. Before the knight could even say a word, Oscar spoke.

"Gatrie! What are you doing here?!"

"Saving your sorry butt, that's what! Is that the proper way to greet your savior?!" Gatrie hissed back, glancing behind him, just in case the guard had heard. The dungeon did echo somewhat, after all.

"And how do you plan to do that?" demanded Oscar, relaxing a little, having gotten over the shock of seeing him.

"Er… well, I'm working on that. It was hard enough to secure this job in the first place! It took me these past two days to get hired and then to worm my way into being on the shift to watch you! I can't do _everything_ at once, you know!"

"Right, sorry, Gatrie. It's just that I'm a little cranky, being stuffed into this miserable cell for two days," the other man replied with a sigh. "Have you talked to Astrid? She might be able to help." Oscar's mouth twitched into a frown as he mentioned her name. He had not seen her since Raul had caught him and he couldn't help but admit that he was anxious to know how she was. In fact any news of what was happening outside his cell would be great. Suddenly a thought occurred to him.

"Gatrie! Have you sent anything to Ike? I have a feeling that we might be stuck here for a little longer than we'd expected."

"… Of-Of course!" Gatrie exclaimed after a suspicious pause.

"… Gatrie…"

"I'll send him a letter right after I get off shift! First of all, let's find a way to get you out of here."

* * *

Astrid stared resolutely out the window, her eyes not really focused on anything in particular. Her mind kept running over the events of the past two days. They had all been a disaster and since yesterday morning, she had holed herself up in her room, refusing to see anyone. In hindsight, it was a rather foolish thing to do, since she was rather hungry now and had demanded the last maid to leave her be. 

Right after Raul had caught her and Oscar, he had immediately punched Oscar. The two had then gotten into a tussle, exchanging quite a few blows before several guards had arrived and taken Oscar down to the dungeons. When Raul had returned, he had been furious, but not at her. He thought that it had all been Oscar's fault and had simply escorted her back to her room, telling her that the wedding was to go on as planned.

The time before the wedding had passed in a blur; she had been rather dazed and was perhaps in a sort of shock at what had all happened. It wasn't until Raul had kissed her, after she had unconsciously said her vows, that everything solidified in her mind. Oscar had been arrested, and she was now married to Lord Raul.

Immediately after this kiss, she had bolted out of the room, and ran into the stables—a habit that had plagued her since childhood. Being in the company of the silent horses had always had a calming effect on her. It was there that her brothers had found her, stroking the nose of her mare. She had brought it with her from her estates; the horse would be her only friend in this strange new place. However, despite her brothers' attempts to coerce her into talking, she had refused to speak to them. She still played mute even when her mother had found her and slapped her for her insolence.

Luckily, her brothers and sisters had convinced both Raul and her parents to let her spend the night by herself rather than with her husband, as was customary. That night passed in an endless rerun of all that had happened between her and Oscar. She felt horrible; because of her recklessness she had endangered Oscar's life. Now he was trapped in Raul's dungeon, perhaps with death awaiting him. Eventually, she had exhausted her mind and fell asleep.

The next morning brought both servants and her family to her door. However, she had refused to let any of them in. It turned out that Raul had informed her family of Oscar. Her parents had yelled and threatened her through the door. She ignored them until they finally left. Her brothers had tried to coax her out, with kinder intentions, but she had told them to leave her alone. All of her sisters had been forced home by their husbands the night before, so they did not have to opportunity to speak with her either. However, despite a few more attempts by her family, Raul never once came to her door, which she was thankful for.

So, she had spent the rest of that day contemplating her situation and concocting plans to help Oscar. She cared not anymore that she was married to Raul; she only wanted Oscar to escape Begnion unscathed. Her solitude had given her time to resign herself to her fate, but in no way was she going to bring Oscar down with her. Astrid was also worried about Gatrie. She had no idea what had become of him, or whether he knew of Oscar's predicament.

Now, the next morning, she still had not the slightest clue as to what she should do next. After going nearly two days without food, she was starting to feel faint and her mind was not thinking straight. Moving away from the window she sat down on her bed. The next servant that came, she would tell to fetch her food.

Not a moment later, a knock sounded at her door. Jumping up, Astrid approached the door cautiously.

"Who is it?"

"Joel. And Elijah," came Joel's voice. "We brought some food for you."

"You haven't eaten since before the wedding. Let us in, Astrid," her other brother added with more than a hint of command in his voice.

Biting her lip slightly in contemplation, she finally decided to open the door a crack and peek outside. There, her two brothers stood with a large tray of food in Joel's hands. Seeing that no one else was with them, she let them in, swiftly shutting and bolting the door shut behind them.

Setting the tray down on a low table in the middle of the room, her brothers turned to face her. She ignored their disapproving faces as she pulled a stool towards the table and began to delicately eat the food, despite her hunger. The etiquette drilled into her since childhood always did persist even in the direst circumstances.

Elijah and Joel watched their youngest sister butter a piece of bread and bite into it, occasionally drinking the milk that she had poured for herself. She looked as if she hadn't slept well and she still wore her nightdress with a house robe thrown over. They let her eat in silence, fully aware that she would most likely not answer their questions while she was eating.

As she finished the loaf of bread, and began to reach for the small bundle of grapes, her brothers sat down on nearby chairs. Putting one in her mouth, she lifted her eyes to regard their faces. Their identical visages were grim and set; they were ready to question her now and they expected answers. Swallowing, she wetted her lips with another sip of milk before speaking.

"What did Raul tell you?" she ventured, figuring that this would be the best way to start their no doubt to be awkward conversation.

"He told us that you were in a state of shock, because you had been assaulted by a strange man before the wedding started," replied Elijah after a moment. "Mother was furious and demanded that the man be executed. Of course, she forgets that he'd need to be trialed. Raul refused however, saying that he'd deal with him in due course."

"Doesn't want to spoil his reputation, or rather _your_ reputation. It wouldn't do for people to think that he had allowed some cad kissing his wife right before their wedding," Joel added with a grimace.

"That's not the point, however," Elijah resumed. "We'd like to know who this man was, and we'd like to hear what happened. From _you_. We're not leaving until you do."

"You must understand, sister, we want to help you. We know that you wouldn't let some stranger take advantage of you. You're hiding something, and you need to tell us."

Astrid hesitated, unsure of what to do. She knew that her brothers meant well, but what was she supposed to tell them? Anyway, what could they do to help her? This whole situation was rather ridiculously complicated.

"Astrid."

"I'll tell you if you help him escape," she replied as Elijah spoke her name.

"That man, you mean?" asked Joel, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I guess he's obviously an acquaintance if you want him to get away. Or perhaps more than friends, judging by what the two of you were doing."

"That… That was…" Astrid stammered, blushing. Shaking her head, she decided to change the topic slightly. "Please, it doesn't matter what happened. He doesn't deserve to be locked up, he did nothing wrong! He's only a simple mercenary—"

"Mercenary? Is he part of that group you were fighting with?" exclaimed Elijah, eyebrows furrowing as he shot Joel a sidelong glance. The other man returned his frown, but they both immediately turned their gaze back to their sister. Luckily, their exchange had escaped her.

"Um, yes. He's a member of the Greil's Mercenaries. I fought with him during the war. His… His name's Oscar, he's a dear friend of mine."

"Just a _friend_, Astrid? Raul caught the two of you kissing!" Joel demanded. He was beginning to wish that Susan, Diane or Elizabeth were here to help. Obviously this was going to be a much more awkward situation than he could have anticipated.

Astrid flushed both with embarrassment and shame. It had all been going so well. They were going to end it there and continue on with their lives. Perhaps they would correspond with each other through letters, strictly as friends. If Raul had only arrived a few seconds later.

"Astrid, what's your relationship with this man?" Elijah asked, noticing the blush on his sister's face.

"I've already told you, we fought together in the war," Astrid replied, blushing a deeper shade of red. "And… And… I-I don't really know what happened, but… but… " She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence. It was too uncomfortable to admit it to her brothers, not to mention it overwhelmed her with guilt and pain.

"You fell in love?" offered Elijah, noticing the change of expression on her face. Astrid didn't answer. He felt a twinge in his heart as he regarded her; he was acquainted with that look. Elijah felt the pang again and he looked away from his sister, marvelling at the strangeness of this predicament.

"Oh dear Ashera…" muttered Joel, dropping his head into his propped up hand. "Why do unfortunate marriages and unrequited love plague our family?!"

"What ever are you talking about, Joel?" asked Astrid curiously. Unrequited love? She had never heard of _that_ in their family before.

"Tell us your story, and we shall tell you ours," Elijah answered, once again exchanging looks with his brother. Joel was grimacing. Clearly he didn't want to share his story, but Elijah thought that there would be no avoiding it.

* * *

Astrid settled herself on the bench, gazing at the beauty of the garden. After speaking with her brothers, she had agreed to stop holing herself up if they agreed to help her free Oscar. She had played along with Raul's story and told both him and her parents that she had been in a state of shock. Now, however, she was better, though she still requested that she be left in solitude for another few days to get used to the sudden change. Strangely enough, Raul had consented without any qualms. 

She felt a little more at ease now, having filled her stomach as well as lifted the weight on her chest by finally telling someone of her plight. Though she had not expected that someone to be her twin brothers. Still, they had listened rather well and had taken it better than she had expected. Of course, after hearing what _they_ had to say, she understood why. She would've never suspected that their usual content demeanours hid secrets so painful.

"Astrid!" cried a familiar voice, calling her from her reveries. Looking up, she saw Gatrie, dressed in the armour of Raul's house, running towards her.

"I can't believe my luck, running into you in the same place as last time. We should make this our meeting spot or something," the knight said as he approached her.

"Gatrie! What are you doing here? Why are you dressed like that? Oh, we'd better be careful, if we get caught together, Raul will suspect something."

"Doesn't matter! We have to find a way to rescue Oscar and get you out of here!"

"You've seen him?" exclaimed the noblewoman, not hearing the second part of his sentence. "Is he all right?"

"Yes, yes, he's fine. However, he is a bit grouchy. Must be the lack of sunlight or something…"

"Gatrie, please tell him that my brothers are figuring out a way to help him. However, I don't know when we can do anything. It could take weeks," Astrid said.

"Your brothers? Oh, well, that would certainly be helpful. I'm sure they more resources than I do… By the way, have I mentioned that I'm guarding Oscar's cell tonight? You should sneak down and tell him yourself," Gatrie stated, remembering the frustrated look on Oscar's face whenever he spoke of Astrid.

"See him? I-I'm not sure if that's a good idea…" she murmured, looking down at the ground. She _did_ want to see Oscar again, but she had already caused him enough grief. The noblewoman had been planning to help her brothers, but she would let them take care of getting him off the grounds.

"Don't worry, you won't get caught. I'll keep watch," replied Gatrie, misinterpreting her reluctance. "Just disguise yourself as a maid. It'll only be for less than an hour. You'll be in and out, then back in your room before you know it. Anyway, I'm sure he'd like to see you again. He's been pretty gloomy, it's not like him."

"Um… All-All right, I'll go. I'll go to the dungeons tonight, when the house is asleep…" she answered with a small smile. "You know, Gatrie, you're a very good friend."

"You flatter me, Astrid!" Gatrie denied, though his beaming grin said otherwise. "But, you know, Oscar _is_ terribly lucky to know a guy like me."

* * *

Footsteps. He could hear soft footsteps coming down the stairs. Oscar glanced at Gatrie, standing up and walking towards the bars. 

"Who could be coming down here this late? Is your shift over already, Gatrie?"

"Nope," the blond replied, smirking.

Oscar regarded him suspiciously, but when he turned his gaze towards the stairs, his look of suspicion changed to surprise.

"Astrid?" he breathed. She approached the cell, one hand over her mouth as she stifled a gasp. His cheek and jaw were discoloured with a yellow and purple bruise, and a tiny bit of blood had dried over a small gash. She could not help the tears that flowed down her cheek; his wounds just looked so _painful_.

"Oscar… Are-Are you all right? Your face…"

"It's fine. It's looks worse than it really is," the paladin replied off-handedly, much more occupied with the fact that she was standing in front of him.

"I'll go keep watch, erm, up the staircase," Gatrie muttered under his breath as he scurried up said stairs, leaving the two alone for the time being.

"I'm sorry Oscar, this is my fault—" Astrid started, her hands gripping the bars of his cell.

"No. It's not. It was my decision to-to kiss you," he replied, blushing slightly as he recollected the memory. After spending so long a time with only his thoughts, he had realized what a brash move that had been. "Anyway, that's in the past. It doesn't matter whose fault this is. It can be _both_ our faults."

"Yes, getting you out of here is of more urgent importance," Astrid said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "My brothers… They will help you. I do not know when, or how, they mean to do so, but they will."

"And… And what of you?" Oscar asked after a moment. "Won't you, and your brothers, get into a lot of trouble for helping me?"

"… I know not. We will work something out, do not worry," she answered. Another silence fell between them. Astrid did not know what else she could say to him. She had apologized, had told him about what she knew of the plan to free him. Then, the sound of Gatrie's footsteps coming down the stairs saved her the trouble. "Oh! I-I should get going… I don't want to get caught."

Letting go of the cell bars, she was about to walk away, when Oscar unexpectedly grasped her hand through the bars. She let out a small gasp and her head whipped around to face him. However his eyes were fixed on her hand. On the golden, diamond-embedded ring that circled her slender, calloused finger. A moment later, he let go of her hand, not saying a word.

Astrid's eyes lingered on Oscar's form once more, but he had turned away to face the back of his cell. Just then, when he was gazing at her ring, she had seen such an expression on his face that it wrenched at her heart. What emotion it had been exactly, she could not place. The best she could come up with was a bitter resignation. But what would bring upon such a sentiment? Turning, she carefully made her way up the stairs once more, passing Gatrie on the way up.

"Feeling better, champ? I thought that seeing her again would cheer you up!" Gatrie said, unable to see the look on Oscar's face.

"… Yes… I'm going to sleep, Gatrie."

"Okay, I'll be off shift by the time you wake up, probably, so I'll see you again… Um, I think tomorrow night."

With a nod, Oscar retreated to the very back of his cell and sat down, his back pressed to the wall. Though his eyes were closed, Oscar did not drift off to sleep right away. The ring on Astrid's finger had hit him like a splash of cold water. He had completely forgotten that she was married now.

During his shifts, Gatrie had talked non-stop about how they would get him out of there and take Astrid with them (conveniently leaving out the parts about _how_ they were to escape). Gatrie's optimism had made him forget that she was a married woman now. Though he had already resolved to give her up and move on, the ring—cold, hard proof of her nuptials—had still come as a blow. The sheer beauty of the ring had also overwhelmed him; the gemstone was one of the biggest he had ever seen.

_That's right, Oscar. You could've never afforded something like that. He can give her everything that she wants; she'll be happy._ Shifting his position on the chilly, stone floor, he felt a stab of resentment. He had determined that he would not bother Astrid again after he was back in Crimea, but no matter how strong he willed, he could not blow out that one small, quivering flame of hope. Hope that things could still end with _his _happiness intact.

* * *

Okay… Slow chapter, and not so exciting. Also, in case anyone was wondering what Elijah and Joel told Astrid, don't worry, that will be revealed next chapter. I just felt that I didn't want use up that particular story element this chapter. Speaking of the twins, what did you think of that scene? I didn't like it too much, but no matter how many times I try to revise it, it still doesn't seem right. 

Oscar: And I'm still not free…

FireEdge: Well, obviously not. What kinda story would it be if you escaped the very next chapter?!

Oscar: One where I wasn't miserable?

FireEdge: Can't have everything, now can you? Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter. It won't be up for a while though; school's starting in less than a week. I'll be occupied with getting back into the swing of things, so please be patient.

--FireEdge--


	13. Chapter 13

Soooo, ummm. Yeah. It's been like… HOW many months since I last updated?

Oscar: About five or six.

FireEdge: That was a rhetorical question. Anyway, so, I really don't have an excuse for not updating. I just haven't been that inspired to write lately. And then, when I AM, I didn't have time. So then my inspiration died again. :D

Oscar: Well, that's lovely.

FireEdge: Still, I'm here now, and that's ALL that matters. So, anyway, here's the next (I'm assuming) long-awaited chapter of _Defying Fate_. Just for the record, we're entering the last legs of _Defying Fate_. GASP! After this chapter, there will be… two left.

Oscar: Oh good, that means that I'm gonna be free soon.

FireEdge: Geez, is that all you think about?

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Chapter 13**

Joel walked down the staircase to Raul's dungeons. He wasn't sure _why_ he was coming down here. Maybe he just wanted to examine the man that his sister had fallen for? To see what kind of man would cause Astrid to become so… rebellious. His youngest sister had always been quiet and a complete push-over, prone to bullying and a cry-baby. Now she was trying to free a man from prison.

His feet finally met with the floor of the dungeon and his eyes fell on the nearest cell which was guarded by a bored looking man. However, seeing Joel, he snapped to attention and stepped forward.

"Good afternoon, milord. How may I help you?"

"I don't need any help. I just came to see the prisoner," Joel replied curtly, stepping past the guard.

The sentry opened his mouth to protest, but closed it when Joel raised a silencing hand. Though Joel did not hold as commanding a presence as his older twin, the tall nobleman exuded a cool authority (when he was _calm_ anyway). Gazing into the cell, Joel stared at the green-haired mercenary looking up at him, his eyes only a sliver of emerald. His face was somewhat bruised and he looked miserable. However, his expression was calm, though somewhat dejected.

Neither of them spoke. After maybe a minute, Joel turned around, without a word, and made his way up the stairs. As he climbed, he recalled his conversation with Astrid and Elijah from that morning.

* * *

"_He's a good man. _All _of them are good people. Greil's Mercenaries are not like other mercenaries. They aren't greedy; they always help those in need," Astrid said as she finished her story. _

_The two brothers looked at each. They had only known the bare minimum of the recent war. It hadn't really involved Begnion, so the smaller details had not reached their ears. However, based on what Astrid had told them, it was definitely more… complex than they had thought. _

"_Ah… So, I've told you my story," Astrid spoke again, interrupting the silence. "Will you explain to me, now, what you were saying about… unrequited love?" The curiosity on her face was obvious. _

_Elijah smiled. Joel did not. He knew that Elijah was merely amused by Astrid's interest, but Joel did not want Astrid to know their story at all. It was rather… embarrassing. At least it was on _his_ end. If only he hadn't accidentally opened his big mouth. Elijah's part of it all was more tragic. _

"_Well, there's not much to tell," Elijah replied. "However, back when Joel and I served in the Begnion army, we both fell in love."_

"_Really? Why didn't you ever tell me?" Astrid asked. She had never heard of _either_ of her brothers expressing any interest in a particular woman. _

"_That's because they turned out badly," answered Joel with a slight frown. He definitely didn't want to relive those memories again. He could still remember the look on Elijah's face after a certain incident. _

"_I guess they must have, if they are, as you said, unrequited," she said carefully. Astrid could see that this was a sensitive subject, but she was very happy that they had found her worthy enough to share it. _

"_My story's not that interesting, anyway. She was a commoner that had managed to join the army. I'm not sure why, but I soon became… attracted to her," Joel couldn't help but feel a bit of heat rise to his face. This was not something he would usually talk about with his little sister. "Maybe it was because she was so much more different than the noblewomen that I was accustomed to. However… she didn't exactly like the fact that I was a noble. She avoided me like the plague. No matter how hard I tried, she rejected me. Eventually, after she had earned enough money to support her family, she left the army. She never said good-bye to me. Obviously, I wasn't worth her time." _

_Astrid's brows drew together in contemplation. She couldn't imagine what Joel had done to cause the girl's rejection. He never bragged about his title or money. Still, she supposed some people just possessed a blind prejudice. Just like the racism that faced laguz. Just like the haughty attitudes the upper-class of Begnion held towards the common folk. It was this exact prejudice that probably tormented Oscar… _

"_Don't make that face, Astrid. It's nothing for you to worry about. This was years ago. She's probably forgotten about me, and I've moved on," said Joel, marking the expression on her visage. His gaze shifted to Elijah. "It's your turn, brother of mine."_

"_Go ahead, you tell her. You seem to have a knack for abbreviating everything," Elijah replied. However Joel knew that Elijah just didn't want to tell the story himself. _

"_Well, little Astrid, you were very close to having your first sister-in-law. Johanne was a healer in the army. They fell in love almost immediately. It was exactly like those fairytales you used to love so much. She was a very pleasant and polite girl and the daughter of a bourgeois. I'm sure that Mother and Father wouldn't have protested against their marriage. However, during one battle, she was… killed."_

* * *

Astrid looked up from the book that she was reading when she heard a rap at the door. Closing the book, she stood up and told the visitor to come in. Much to her surprise, it was her husband.

"L-Lord Raul!" she exclaimed. She definitely hadn't been expecting him. Not that she was expecting anyone.

"Please, we're married now, no need to be so polite," he replied as he closed the door behind him.

"Ah… My apologies. I'm not accustomed to addressing you casually," Astrid answered, turning away. It had been many days now, but whenever someone told her that she was married, it always came as a shock.

Raul did not reply and the couple stood in silence for nearly a minute, with Astrid gazing out into the night sky. Finally, Raul stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I see that you are still uncomfortable around me," he said. "However, that is to be expected. You barely know me, and on the rare occasions that we have met, I suppose that I was rather aloof."

Astrid's frowned in puzzlement, turning to face him now. The older man wore the barest hint of a smile on his lips.

"Yes, you were rather cold," she finally replied carefully. The young woman wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but she decided to play along for the time being.

"I'm not a very sociable person; I prefer the solitude of my estates. I dislike noise and the parties of most nobles. I chose you as a wife because you are not frivolous and I admire your serenity. You are young, and no doubt unhappy with an arranged marriage. However, I am a fair man, and I am most certainly not cruel. Though, I admit, I do have a bit of a temper, especially concerning what is mine. I only hope that in time, you will accept me as your husband."

Astrid was speechless. Was he _asking_ for her to accept _him_? There was no trace of deceit on his face, he was perfectly austere. Where was the cold, unresponsive man that she had seen just so recently? _"If you're lucky, he may prove to be a better man than he appears. Some are warmer when they are alone in their own homes."_ Diane's words echoed again through her head. Was her sister correct?

"I will take my leave now. You no doubt would like to rest. I just wanted to inform you that I will be departing early tomorrow on business."

"Y-You will?" she asked, startled out of her thoughts. Despite the confusion taking place in her brain, the word 'departing' had immediately brought her back to reality. Raul was _leaving_! Oscar could escape!

"Yes. I will be returning the day after tomorrow. I am only going over to a nearby town to sort out some problems. It shouldn't take any longer than that."

"… I wish you a safe journey, then," Astrid managed to say, containing her happiness. Raul gave her a small, brief smile. He stepped forward and his fingers curled around her chin. The man kissed her and left.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Astrid collapsed onto her bed. Who would have thought that a mere five minutes could be so exhausting?

_No time to rest, Astrid! You can think about what Raul said afterwards. Right now, you must help Oscar escape. After he's safe, you have all the time in the world to think!_

Filled with a sudden burst of vigour, she strode to her door and looked outside. Unable to see Raul, she stepped outside and eagerly went in search of her brothers.

* * *

Oscar jumped up as he heard footsteps descending the stairs. Gatrie, who stood outside his cell, turned to him with a huge grin. Quickly, the blond knight took out his keys and unlocked Oscar's cell. Finally, it was time for them to escape. It had only been that morning that Gatrie had come and told him the plan. Raul was off on urgent business and wouldn't be back until tomorrow! It was the perfect opportunity for them to leave. By the time that Raul returned, they would be long gone.

Despite his eagerness to be away from here and back in Crimea, Oscar couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. He had told Gatrie that he did not want to see Astrid before they left. It would only make things more painful for the both of them. This way, he could finally disappear from her life for good.

As Oscar stepped out of the cell, two men arrived at the bottom of the stairwell. They both had dark hair and identical faces, though one of them wore a beard and was missing an arm. Oscar immediately recognized the clean-shaven brother. He was the man that had visited him the other day. No wonder he had seemed familiar, he was Astrid's older brother.

"Here, put these cloaks over what you're wearing. We'll accompany you to the servant's exit. None of the servants will question you while you are with us. You will pose as our messengers, being sent to deliver something. Follow the path until you hit a crossroads, and then consult this map." Elijah handed them two cloaks and a folded piece of paper.

"Thank you very much," Oscar said as he took one of the capes from Gatrie.

"We're only doing this for our sister," answered the other brother.

"I still thank you… Say good-bye to Astrid for me," he added the later part after a moment of hesitation.

"Follow me," Elijah said. The four men then climbed the stairs and headed for the rear exit that led to the stables.

Everything went according to plan and they were just preparing the two horses given to Oscar and Gatrie, when they heard hoof beats.

"Who's that?" asked Gatrie nervously, as the sound grew louder.

"It can't be Raul, he's not due back until tomorrow morning," replied Joel, but his mouth was twisted in a frown. "Quickly, mount up and put your hoods up… If it _is_ Raul, bow to him and greet him before going past him. Act casual."

As Oscar mounted his steed and waited for Gatrie to settle into his saddle, the approaching horses turned the corner and were now coming down the path to the stables. Oscar could feel his blood freeze in his veins. It _was_ Raul. It looked like he had finished up his business earlier than expected.

_Don't panic. Just do what Astrid's brother said and everything will go fine. _Don't_ panic_. Finally, Gatrie was ready and the two of them nudged their horses into a walk. They were now only a few dozen feet away from Raul and his two servants.

"Who goes there?" Raul's voice called down the length of the stables. Elijah and Joel immediately stepped forward and motioned for Oscar and Gatrie to stop their horses.

"You're back earlier than we expected, Lord Raul," greeted Elijah.

"Ah, Lord Elijah and Lord Joel. What brings you two out at this hour?"

"We're just sending two of our servants to deliver something," answered Joel. They had wanted to send them off late in the night since the household would be asleep and would not notice them exciting the dungeons. However, Raul's return was an unprecedented development.

"This late?"

"Yes, we'd like them to arrive at their destination by tomorrow afternoon, so it was appropriate to send them now."

"… Well, whatever suits you," the older man said with a frown. As he walked past the brothers' two servants, one of their horses fidgeted and the rider's hood slipped. Raul's eye glanced at the man and pulled on the reins of his mount. "You… Aren't you that new guard I hired?"

The four conspirators froze, not knowing what to say. The darkness of the late hour hid their faces in shadows, but if there had been light, Raul would've saw exactly how pale they were. They could almost feel the foundations of their plans crumbling to pieces around their ears.

"Er… You must be mistaken, milord," Gatrie replied after what felt like an eternity. He tried to speak gruffly, in an attempt to disguise his voice. However, this attempt proved futile, for Raul's eyes were now narrowed in suspicion and anger.

"Don't lie to me!" the nobleman growled. He turned quickly to the two brothers, who were standing motionlessly, their minds working frantically for a solution. "What is the meaning of this?! Why do you have one of my men?"

"Lord Raul, as the good man said, you are mistaken. This is not your servant, he's one of ours. Perhaps they are relatives, or simply uncanny look-alikes," Joel replied, not entirely sure Raul would buy it. Unfortunately, he was right.

"I haven't the slightest idea as to what you two are scheming, but I do not appreciate you involving my men," Raul said stiffly. He nudged his mount forward a few paces. "You, Gatrie was it? Get off that horse and get back to work. If you give me a full explanation as to what you're doing out here, I will not punish you. And who might _you _be?"

Before Oscar, or anyone, could react, Raul had pulled the hood off of Oscar's head. Almost instinctively, the green-haired paladin immediately kicked his heels into his horse's sides and charged past Raul, heading for the exit. As he passed by one of Raul's escorts, he leaned over and shouldered one of them and grabbed the spear that hung loosely from his saddle. He hoped that he wouldn't need to use it, but it was better to have a weapon than be caught unarmed. Giving the horse another kick, he steered towards the exit of the stables.

"After him! Cut him off!! Don't let him escape the grounds!" Raul commanded, recognizing the man immediately. He could never forget the face of the scoundrel who had taken advantage of his wife. In fact, he decided to pursue him as well. He pulled out the rapier at his side. Last time he had been too lenient, merely imprisoning him, this time he would show no mercy.

"Damn!" Oscar cursed as he heard the pounding hoof beats behind him. If he was lucky, he would escape, but he was unsure of his steed's limits. Would the beast be able to keep this speed for long? Not to mention the guards had a better knowledge of the area. Then, how would _Gatrie_ escape? He couldn't just leave his friend behind!

Suddenly his horse let out a loud whinny of pain and stumbled, nearly tossing Oscar off. Glancing down and behind him, Oscar saw an arrow protruding from the horse's hindquarters. Another arrow whizzed towards him and buried itself into the horse's leg. It crumpled to the ground with another shrill cry and Oscar was forced to dismount.

Whirling around, lance at the ready, Oscar braced himself to fight. However, the paladin wasn't sure how he was going to fare. He was without a mount, without armour and he was up against two horsemen.

_Well, I can't just give up and die. I've mad laguz and hordes of Daein soldiers before, two men should be a piece of cake_, he thought to himself. Just as he was about to charge forward, a bellowing voice commanded the two guards to stop.

"Get back, this one's mine," Raul came forward and jumped off his horse. "I showed you kindness once, by not killing you on the spot, but this time, I will cut you down."

"Raul! Stop!" Elijah cried as he and Joel raced out of the stables, out of breath as they finally caught up. "If you must know, Astrid wanted us to release him. Please, for her sake, let him go!"

"What?! _Astrid_ asked you to release him? Why would she do that? And why did she not come to me?" the nobleman demanded.

"She is a kind-hearted girl; she can't stand seeing someone suffer needlessly. She thought you would not free him."

"… No. I don't believe you. There must be something more. But, I care not. This man touched what is mine. He will die." With that, Raul rushed forward with his heavy rapier in hand.

Oscar didn't know how good of a fighter Raul was, but he certainly wasn't going to take any chances. However, he didn't want to take the offensive either. Who knew _what_ would happen if he killed a Begnion noble? Especially under _these _circumstances! As Raul approached, he dashed to the right and circled around him, dodging his initial charge. Whipping around, he brought up his spear just in time to catch the vertical blow that Raul sent flying towards his neck.

_I'll just have to take the defensive for now. Maybe Astrid's brothers or Gatrie will step in and stop him. Wait, where _is_ Gatrie?_

"Raul! RAUL! Stop this nonsense! You cannot kill this man! It would be murder!" Elijah yelled desperately, but he knew that his pleas were falling on deaf ears. The two were parrying each other's blows, only grazing each other with their weapons. It was obvious that Oscar was the better fighter, but he didn't seem to be attacking. So the mercenary had some brains after all. "Joel! We must stop them, we can't have bloodshed!"

"… All right, I'll try and restrain Raul. Take his weapon once I've got a hold of him."

Joel rushed forward once Raul's back was facing him and made a grab for the man's two arms. He wasn't sure how he was going to keep back this angry man; he had been an archer in the army, not a knight. Raul immediately started to wrestle against his grip and he managed to kick backwards, his heel connecting with Joel's leg. With a cry of pain and a stifled curse, the younger man let go and fell to his knees, clutching his shin.

"Don't interfere!" Raul snarled before turning back to attack Oscar.

"NO! STOP! Please stop!" a new voice cried out. Everyone's heads turned in surprise. Racing down the path towards them were Gatrie and Astrid. Her face was as pale as the nightgown that billowed about her as she ran.

"Astrid!" the four men exclaimed.

"Lord Raul, please do not kill him! I beg you!" she pleaded as she finally reached them. Astrid fell to her knees before her husband both in exhaustion from her mad sprint and in an effort to convince him to spare Oscar's life.

"Why do you want this miserable wretch to live?! What is your relation with this man?!" Raul asked angrily, one hand pointing accusingly at Oscar. The latter's face was ashen as he stared at Astrid.

"He's… he's a dear friend. Please, let him go. I will explain everything, but please let him go."

"… No. I've already made my decision," he replied quietly and coldly, shrugging her off. Raul returned his gaze to Oscar. He did not know what their relationship was, but he was certain that he would disapprove. This man was a threat to him and to what was rightfully his. People may not believe him, but he had fallen in love with the youngest daughter of Lord Damiell. From the first day he had set eyes on her, he had found her appealing. Quiet, demure and beautiful. What else could a man ask for?

Oscar's eyes were still fixed on Astrid. He couldn't move. It was like the sight of her had petrified him. Tears streamed down her face as she grasped the bottom of Raul's tunic. To see the regal and benevolent noblewoman, that had tried so hard to stand up for what she wanted, on her knees pleading was nearly too much for him. It was his fault that she was forced to beg for his life. Those tears on her porcelain cheeks were courtesy of him. Oscar thoughts were in such turmoil that he barely registered Raul moving away from her and coming at him.

"NO!" Astrid screamed as she saw Raul raise his weapon. Why wasn't Oscar moving?! Why wasn't he raising his lance to counter?! With a burst of energy, she jumped up and lunged at Raul. She overleapt and she felt his rapier cut across her shoulder and trail down her chest. "Ahhh!"

"ASTRID!"

The dark-haired woman collapsed, blood staining her nightdress as she gasped in pain. She didn't know how deep the wound was, but the shock of steel cutting into her nearly bare flesh was enough to make her light-headed and her vision was slowly going out of focus. Astrid could feel a warm arm prop her up and she could see the blurry face of Elijah leaning over her. She heard him calling her name and then she fell unconscious.

"A healer! Someone send for a healer!" Joel cried frantically as he tried to stop the bleeding of her cut. However, everyone was in such a state of shock that none of them could move. "HURRY!"

Gatrie was the first to come to his senses and he immediately rushed towards the manor. Raul and Oscar had still not recovered. Raul could only stare blankly at the bloodied rapier in his hand. Oscar's eyes were now wide open. He didn't know if he was crying or not, he could only gaze at the crimson wound across Astrid's body. He took a step towards her, but an overbearing weight fell upon him. The guilt welled up once more, to replace the shock. She took that blow for _him_. No, he did not deserve to go near her.

So, Oscar stood frozen, staring at Astrid's unconscious body. It wasn't until he heard a guttural cry of rage and grief that the blood started flowing through his limbs again. Good thing, too, for Raul had once again charged at him, but this time with such fervour that Oscar could feel the vibrations from the impact made by the rapier connecting with the shaft of his lance.

"DIE!" Raul bellowed, drawing back his weapon and slashed again, this time, the tip grazed against Oscar's arm and the sting of the cut and the trickling of the warm blood seemed to awaken a primal instinct within him. The instinct to fight back. To live. His muscles acted of their own accord, following the pattern that was drilled into them in the past years and Oscar barely registered that he was fighting back. He could barely feel the grazes of the rapier's tip against his skin, or the fact that he was inflicting damage on Raul. It wasn't until he felt the end of his spear sink deep into Raul's stomach that his senses came back to him.

"Oh no…" he gasped as he pulled his spear back. The older man collapsed, clutching his bleeding gut. The blood seeping through his fingers was too much for a mere flesh wound. Oscar must have hit an organ. The noble looked up and locked his burning eyes with Oscar's terror-stricken ones. Then he fell forward, his blood pooling about him, with his uttering of "Astrid" hanging in the air between them.

Raul had said nothing to him, but somehow Oscar could almost hear his unspoken words. He had caused Astrid to be wounded, and now he had just _murdered_ her husband, the only man that would've been capable of making her happy. Even if Astrid had married him, he could give her nothing. She would've had to live the life of a peasant. How had this happened?

With some difficulty, Oscar tore his eyes from Raul's body and looked across to Astrid and her brothers. In the distance behind them, he could see Gatrie and a healer quickly approaching. Joel stood and let the healer take his place. Gatrie stopped to look at Astrid before walking towards Oscar.

"… Oscar…" Gatrie said quietly. He was asking what would happen next. The paladin didn't know. All he knew was that he couldn't stay here any longer. He had stayed longer than he should've and now this was the price to pay.

"Let's go. We're going home."

Before he turned to go, his eyes locked with the deep brown ones of Joel. The other man said nothing, but his eyes clearly said: "Go and never come back."

Oscar tried to say something. Anything. But, no words would come out. He could feel a lump in his throat and he felt tears rolling down his face. When was the last time he had cried? Ignoring the unbearable urge to run towards Astrid to embrace her and apologize over and over again, he walked towards his fallen horse. Taking the bags attached to it, he stroked the nose of the injured animal. With Gatrie following him uncertainly, they left.

"Elijah, it was a mistake to send an invitation to those mercenaries. This wouldn't have happened otherwise."

* * *

Okay, soooo, what did you guys think? Was that dramatic or what (haha, just kidding)? Kind of cliché though, I guess. Still, that's what happens when you try and base it on a scene out of Romeo and Juliet. Very LOOSELY based, though. Still, if anyone can figure out what part it was, they get a cookie.

Oscar: A cookie. How… generous of you.

FireEdge: This chapter was kinda iffy and was pretty choppy, but I'm not good at action-y fight scenes. Also, I'm pretty sure I've tied up all the loose ends and answered any questions. It's also much longer than I thought it would be, though… But that's a good thing, I guess (you guys deserve it, too, after I made you wait so long!). And, yes, Raul has an anger management problem, Oscar might not have killed him if he hadn't pulled the spear out and let's say that Astrid tripped to justify her absurd "overleaping and then getting hacked". Aside from some of my glaring inconsistencies to the laws of reality/common sense, tell me what did you guys think.

Anyway, there's only one more chapter left, which will then be followed by the epilogue. Hopefully, I'll get both of those up without a super long delay. Again.

Oscar: Anyway, I'm just glad that I'm free. Of course, I'm now a murderer… Well, until next time, I suppose.

--FireEdge--


	14. Chapter 14

All righty! The final chapter (well, next to the epilogue) is finally here! It's taken me so long to get here, but hey, at least I made it. By the way, no one seemed to have gotten that Romeo and Juliet reference. Everyone guessed the scene where Mercutio and Tybalt fought, but it was really supposed to be the scene between Romeo and Paris. Guess that just goes to show how great I am at representing Shakespeare…

Oscar: Well, I'm sure the readers don't want to listen to you go on any longer, so why don't we just cut to the chase?

FireEdge: Yeah, I guess. I don't really have anything else to say, anyway. Just, you know, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Chapter 14**

It had been quite a few years since Elijah had attended a funeral. Of course this funeral was very different from the one he had witnessed before. While both Raul's funeral and Johanne's funeral were both sombre, the reactions of the attendees varied. At Johanne's everyone wept, mourning for the kind and happy healer that had tended their wounds so diligently. Military cornets had played as her casket, covered with Begnion's flag, was lowered into a grave. He had stood beside her unmoving head, tears flowing down his cheeks, with Joel's hand on his shoulder. Here, the only ones who wept were some of the older servants, including Raul's steward. Astrid occupied the same spot where he had stood before, her face solemn but dry.

"… Lord Raul was a fair man. He treated all his servants and guards with respect and he was never cruel; he never punished us inappropriately. I can honestly say that I never wished to serve another, as I'm sure the other servants can agree. Though I'm sure that many of you did not know Lord Raul well, because he always was a quiet and reserved man, I hope that you will believe my words and remember him kindly."

The steward finished his eulogy and took a moment to dab his face. The tears seemed out of place on his lined and austere visage, but maybe that just made his speech more convincing. Though Elijah had not known Raul well, he could tell that the steward was not lying. During his final moments, Elijah saw that he had really cared for Astrid. However, the man's temper had lead to his downfall. If only he had listened to reason and let Oscar leave. Then, he wouldn't be dead, and Astrid wouldn't have been hurt.

The morning after that incident had been pure chaos. Elijah could only remember small scraps of it, he had been so sick with worry about Astrid. Luckily, despite the blood loss, she had made a full recover. All that was left of the wound was a thin scar. Of course, the part that had caused the most panic had been Raul's death. Joel and Elijah had spent nearly an hour convincing the steward to keep his true killer quiet. Eventually, they had succeeded, saying that this way Raul could die in dignity, without the world knowing that he had been killed in a duel with a mercenary who had apparently stolen the heart of his wife. Instead, Lord Raul had been gored by a wild boar while out hunting.

The last shovel of earth was padded down and after a final moment of silence, the small crowd began to stir and slowly dispersed. Elijah, with Joel on his heels, made their way to Astrid. She did not move from her post and continued to stare at Raul's grave. It was impossible to read her thoughts.

"Astrid," Joel said softly, placing a hand on her slender shoulder. She looked up at him with weary eyes. "Let's go. You need some rest."

"… All right," she replied. Before she left she gazed at the grave once more. "Good-bye Raul… I'm sorry."

Elijah felt a twinge of remembrance in his heart. Though the reasons were different, he knew that Astrid felt the same guilt that he had suffered. She blamed herself for Raul's death, just as he had blamed himself for Johanne's. He wanted to embrace her and tell his youngest sister that it was not her fault, that it had been his and Joel's. After all, it had been the two of them who had invited the Greil Mercenaries. They had only done so because they thought that Astrid would enjoy seeing some of her friends at her wedding. Who would've thought things would've turned out the way they did?

* * *

Astrid stepped out of the carriage as it came to a halt and a servant opened the door. After so long, she was finally home. Her eyes scanned the length of the estate and she felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her. After all, her entire childhood had passed within the boundaries of these grounds.

"Lady Astrid, would you like us to take your belongings to your quarters?" a servant asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Yes, that's fine. However, I will take my horse to the stables myself. It's been too long since I've been there," she replied, immediately walking away to find her horse. Once she did, she led the mare to the stables and let out a sigh.

The stables were her favourite place. Here, she could be left in peace among creatures who didn't judge her; there were no ridiculous customs among horses. As she led her steed into an empty stall and began taking off the gear from her mare, her mind wandered back to the first time she had ridden a horse. She was ten years old and Elijah had put her in the saddle before him and taken her on a ride. It was an exhilarating experience and she had felt so… free.

The next time that she had felt that same feeling was perhaps the day that she had left to join the Begnion army. It had been the first time she had so openly disobeyed her parents. Despite the slight guilt she had felt, she knew that that was how she wished to live from now on. Free to make her proper choices. Of course, she hadn't gone through with that (since she _had_ married Raul), and look where she was now. Maybe it was a sign…

"Astrid?" called Elijah, walking into the stables.

"I'm over here," she answered, proceeding to brushing the coat of her horse.

"… You can let a servant do that. You should rest."

"I'm fine. I prefer caring for my own horse," she replied.

"You haven't slept properly for days," Elijah stated, leaning against the lower door of the stall.

"… You noticed, then? I'm sorry to have worried you… It's… I was just thinking too much."

"About that mercenary?" he inquired gently. The change of expression on her face answered his question, though she said nothing. "I know that Joel blames him for the injury you received, but I know that it was an accident. I hold nothing against him. You can talk to me, sister."

"It's nothing. I just… I guess that I just can't understand why he would go without saying good-bye."

Elijah couldn't help but frown as he observed the expression on his sister's face. It wasn't so much sad as reflective, but he could also feel an uneasy chill pass through him. Somehow, he knew that Astrid was lying. About what, precisely, he didn't know.

* * *

"WHAT?!" Joel exclaimed, leaping up from his chair so fast that he nearly upended the table he was seated at.

"Astrid left," Elijah repeated calmly. He could almost see the fuse on top of Joel's head slowly receding until he exploded. The bearded man put a piece of paper in front of his brother, hoping that it would douse the fire.

Joel's head snapped down and he immediately grabbed the letter, nearly tearing it into two as he opened it. His eyes darted across the page furiously and his grip on the letter tightened with each word he read. However, much to Elijah's relief, the other man didn't seem like he was going to tear off any heads. Instead, he had sunk into a cold state of emotions, which was what he was usually prone to.

Elijah couldn't pinpoint exactly when Joel had developed this technique of controlling his feelings. However, he knew that it had started several years ago at least. He could remember that Joel used to let his emotions get the better of him when they were younger. The only time that he was calm was when he had something to do. Nothing could deter him then. At one point or another, Elijah began to notice that Joel wasn't erupting anymore; his twin would do the opposite, in fact. He would close his eyes and take a deep breath, and then it would seem like a sheet of ice had enveloped his emotions.

Joel sat down and stared at the piece of paper. He was probably reading it again. Elijah had reread it enough times before coming to his brother that he could recite it:

_Dear Elijah and Joel,_

_I must apologize profusely for what I am about to do next. When you find this letter, I will no longer be anywhere near here. During these past few months I've had a lot of time to think. I've decided that I can no longer stay here, or in Begnion, any longer. For everyone's sake, I tried my best to accept my engagement and not run away from my problems any longer. However, deep down, I knew that I regretted my decision. I know that it is a horrible thing to say, but I'm glad that I participated in the war for Crimea's liberation. It has taught me many things and opened my eyes. There is a world outside of Begnion's ridiculous politics that I long to live in. _

_In a few minutes, I will be approaching Mother and Father to tell them that I'm leaving. I imagine that you both know where I will be going. Please, I beg of you, do not contact me if your intentions are to bring me back home. I ask for your forgiveness, and I promise to write you again once I am certain that you will accept my decision._

_With love, Astrid_

Somehow, Elijah hadn't really been surprised when he had found that letter. Instead, he had been more… resigned. Recently, Astrid had become more distant and she often went on long rides on her own. His sister was a quiet girl, but she was never so aloof. Looking back, he realized that she had kept her distance because she had been contemplating this course of action the entire time. She had stayed away from her family, fearing they would discover her intentions. Elijah's baby sister had changed very much during the past year. Still, as long as she was happy, he supposed that he could live with her decision. Now, Joel on the other hand…

"That bloody war… It's all that war's fault… " Joel muttered under his breath, his teeth clenched. He slammed a hand onto the table in anger before standing up and marching towards the window. There he stood with his back to his brother, glaring outside, as if he could somehow see Astrid and will her back home.

_Oh_. Elijah remembered now. It was during their time in the army that Joel had become this way.

* * *

"Well, this is certainly unexpected! I thought that you didn't like taverns!" Gatrie exclaimed as he followed Shinon down the street.

"I don't. I just need a distraction. There haven't been many jobs lately and I need something to do," Oscar replied with a shrug.

"… Are you still thinking about Astrid? It's been six months already. I know that she's an amazing lady, but… you need to move on, Oscar! There are plenty of fish in the sea!" the blond said, waving his arms with emphasis.

"Thanks, Gatrie, but I wasn't thinking about her. I've already moved on. I've told you that," the paladin replied.

"Oh, really? Then why do you turn down all the girls who approach you?" demanded Gatrie. "Just the other day, that pretty little flower, Margaret, asked you to go for a drink! And what did you do? You said 'no'!"

"I don't drink, you know that. I've seen enough of you and Shinon's drunken antics to be deterred from alcohol," Oscar retorted with a lopsided grin.

"Tsk, you're good at concealing your feelings, Oscar! But don't think I haven't seen those looks on your face when you don't think people aren't looking—" Suddenly Gatrie stopped in his tracks, his mouth still open in mid-sentence.

"What's wrong, Gatrie? Shinon already went inside."

"Oscar! Look! Over there! Isn't that… Astrid?" he spluttered, pulling on the green-haired man's sleeve.

"That's not funny, Gatrie. Let's go."

"No, I'm not lying! LOOK!" Gatrie forcefully turned Oscar's head to look down the darkening street. Sure enough, there stood Astrid, leading her bag laden horse. She was talking to a middle-aged woman.

"… Quickly, into the tavern," said Oscar, shoving a confused Gatrie towards the nearby door.

"But why—"

"Just go!" As they finally entered the crowded bar, Oscar let out a sigh. He couldn't imagine what would've happened if she had seen them. It was for the best if he didn't see her again. However, he had a feeling that Astrid had been asking for directions; directions to the headquarters of the Greil Mercenaries.

_That's not good… Maybe I should head back before she finds us and warn Ike. I can ask him to cover for me, I suppose._

Looking outside briefly, checking to see if the coast was clear, he quickly exited the tavern, deaf to Gatrie calling after him in confusion. The paladin ran down a side street, taking a shortcut back to their base. He wished now that he had his horse, since Astrid was bound to be riding, but if he was lucky he might make it back in time. However, he knew that the fact that he was running full out wasn't the only reason why his heart was beating so fast. Though he was calm on the outside, a storm was raging inside him. Why was Astrid here? Oscar was not a conceited man, but he knew that Astrid was, without a doubt, looking for him.

Finally, Oscar broke out onto a worn dirt road that led to the back of the mercenaries' home. As he ran, he could make out the lights of lanterns flickering in the darkness. Barging in through the back door of the main building, where Ike's room and the mess hall were situated (two places Ike was bound to be), Oscar stopped to catch his breath. It was a good thing the town was only a ten-minute run from their home.

"Oscar?" Ike said, as he emerged from around the corner. "I thought I heard the back door open. Why are you back so early? Weren't you with Gatrie and Shinon?"

"Yes… Yes… I was…" Oscar replied in between pants.

"Whoa! Did you run all the way here? What's wrong?" the blue-haired mercenary asked, his brows drawing together in slight alarm.

Oscar held up a hand and shook his head, telling Ike that nothing serious had happened. The other beorc relaxed and leaned against the wall, letting his companion catch his breath again.

"Sorry about that, Ike. I had to run to make sure that I made it here before her."

"Before who?"

"… Astrid," the green-haired man replied. "Gatrie and I spotted her in town. I'm sure that she's headed here. What for, I'm not sure."

"So, what did you want me to do? You came back to tell me that, right?" Ike asked. Oscar had told Ike everything when he had returned from Begnion all those months ago, and the young man could understand why his companion seemed so nervous.

"… I trust that you'll be able to handle the situation, but I just wanted to ask you, that if she asks for me, to please tell her that I'm not here. Tell her that I'm… I'm on a job somewhere and that I won't be back for awhile. It's best if she doesn't see me again," he said, turning to avert his gaze from Ike's.

"Well… if you're sure that's what you want."

"Thank you, Ike. I really appreciate it."

As if on cue, there came a knocking from the front door and both beorc turned towards it, their bodies alert. Oscar felt his stomach churn and looked at Ike anxiously. The young man gave him a nod before heading for the door. Once he left, Oscar decided to leave through the back and head to the stables. From there, he could see the front door. As he expected, he saw Astrid's mare hitched to a nearby tree. Now, all he could do was wait…

It seemed like an eternity before he saw Ike and Astrid step outside. His heart began to beat faster as his eyes alighted on the noblewoman. The two spoke a little more before Astrid went towards her mare. Ike stood still, looking around. Then, much to Oscar's surprise, he began walking towards the stables.

"Oscar? I know you're in here," Ike called into the darkness, taking a few tentative steps forward.

"… Is she leaving now?" the paladin inquired, showing himself.

"Well, actually, no. She's getting her horse right now. I'm going to need you to help her find a stall to stable it."

"Wh-What?!" Oscar stammered in alarm. He didn't just hear that, did he? "But she's not_ supposed_ to know I'm here! Ask Titania!"

"Umm, I figured that it didn't matter anymore, since she's a Greil Mercenary now."

"She's a _what_?!" the paladin exclaimed, his voice rising in pitch because of his distress. Was the air getting thinner, or was it just him?

"Hello, Oscar," a voice greeted from behind Ike. Astrid and her horse stepped into view, and Oscar could feel all the blood drain from his veins. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea if he just fainted right now.

"Funny how things turn out, huh, Oscar? Well, I'm counting on you," Ike said with a shrug, patting him on the shoulder before leaving.

Once Ike was gone, a silence fell between them, and Oscar found that he could not look at her; for if he did, he knew that all his emotions would boil over. The feelings of guilt would be especially overwhelming. He didn't think that he could ever forget the image of her falling to the ground, bleeding. The paladin was also sure that he had caused her a lot of problems since he had killed Raul.

"Oscar, please look at me. I want to talk to you," Astrid said, her eyes trained on the side of his face.

"I… I can't. I don't know what would happen if I did."

"… All right… but explain to me why you left without saying anything. I didn't know what to think when I woke up and you were gone…" she said quietly, her eyes flickering to the ground at his feet.

"It was for the best that I left. I only caused you grief while I was around. You… you were hurt because of me. You were supposed to forget me and we weren't supposed to meet again," he replied.

"… So you decided that for me, then? Without asking what _I_ wanted?" she demanded. Astrid could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. Of all the people she knew, she never expected _him_ to be saying that to her. He should know better than to think that!

"No, I—" Surprised by the forcefulness of her voice, Oscar finally met her gaze. The look he saw in her eyes made him cringe and want to hit himself. Why was he always causing her so much anguish?

"I told you before; I'm finished with letting other people determine my fate for me. I've decided that this is what I want. I've also decided that… that _you_ are the man I want to share my life with. Since I am now a mercenary and no longer a noble, I don't see any problems with our relationship," she said, forcing herself to swallow her nervousness and maintain her gaze.

"What? What do you mean?" he spluttered, his mind trying feebly to grasp what was left of his reality.

"I no longer belong to House Damiell. I have been disowned by my parents, and therefore stripped of my titles." Astrid turned to look out the stable's window. She could still clearly remember the anger on her mother's face and the disappointment on her father's as they cast her out. Of course, it had been inevitable; what with her coming up to them in her soldier's attire and saying that she was leaving to pursue life as a mercenary. She had left immediately, fearing that her parents would change their minds and drag her back. She didn't even say good-bye to her brothers, instead leaving them only a letter. By now, she had come to terms with all of this, but it still hurt in hindsight.

"Astrid…" Oscar's voice brought her back to the present. His hand took the reins from her loose grip and he smiled sadly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… to decide for you. I just didn't want to hurt you, I suppose. But, if this is what you want, I have no right to stop you. Not that I could, anyway…"

"… Thank you," she replied graciously. "Oscar… Let's… let's start over. Let us forget the past and start anew. Maybe this road will end better for us."

With only a moment of slight hesitation, Oscar stepped towards her to pull her into an embrace. He wasn't sure whether this was the right decision or not, and he didn't know whether or not this would all end in disaster. The one thing he knew, however, was that life couldn't get any worse.

* * *

Wooooow, we're finally done. Sort of. You know, this chapter seems pretty short, but it's almost 8 pages long… Hope it's not as cheesy as I think it is.

Oscar: … I don't know what to say. It's kind of weird now that we're at the end… I think I'll go sit down over there and… peel potatoes or something…

FireEdge: It's okay if you're confused. I mean, I switched POVs enough in that last part. Sorry. I couldn't decide how I wanted to end it and it kind of went on and on… Like Beethoven's Ninth Symphony… Anyway, the beginning's a little awkward, since I was unsure as to how much I wanted to write about Astrid's time after the funeral. Sorry if you felt that I rushed that, but I really couldn't think of anything to write…

However, I hope that what I _did _write gave you a little more insight into the characters of her brothers. Oh, and by the way, Elijah only recently lost his arm, and they were both decommissioned afterwards. However, they had both served in the army for many years now. I just thought I'd clear that up, in case anyone actually remembered the first chapter. If you reread that chapter, you'll see some glaring loopholes (which I'm just too lazy to fix up). Either way, I'm_ pretty_ content with how this chapter turned out (mostly the ending), despite the massive time jump.

The epilogue will be out shortly. I'm NOT lying this time, since I actually wrote the epilogue before I even wrote this chapter. So I'm probably going to give you guys a week or two (which is an excuse for me to get my English essay done) and then I'll put it up. Thanks for sticking with me for this long!

--FireEdge--


	15. Epilogue

Hey there, everyone! So, we're finally at the end of the road. I hope that you've all enjoyed the ride! I certainly have (though it's taken me about an eternity to get here…).

Oscar: Also, you've reached 100 reviews!

FireEdge: Awesome! Thanks guys! Anyway, here's the epilogue (finally)! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

**Defying Fate**

**Epilogue**

"… back! …"

"No way! …"

Oscar turned over in his sleep with a vague mumble. What were those voices? Was he dreaming? It certainly felt like it, since they sounded so far away. Despite that, Oscar's brows crinkled, for these voices sounded strangely familiar.

"Give… back! Jerk! …"

"Stop… Be nice… to… younger…."

The voices were getting louder and Oscar shifted once more in his bed. It wasn't just the voices that sounded familiar, the conversation did to.

"Give it BACK!" a young, shrill voice yelled.

"Only if you can reach it, short stuff," a deeper voice said with a laugh.

"Stop being immature," an equally deep and masculine voice interjected. "You're supposed to be the _older_ brother."

Oscar groaned. Why, oh _why_ did he have to dream of Boyd and Rolf bickering? As if it wasn't bad enough that he had to deal with them in real life, he had to listen to them (and himself it seemed) argue during the _one time_ where he was supposed to enjoy peace.

"Argh! Why are you so mean?!" the younger voice cried loudly, and Oscar's eyes snapped open as he bolted upright in his bed. His eyes returned to their usual squint and it took him a moment to realize exactly where he was. He was in his room, sunlight streamed through a half-open window, and beside him his wife stirred. The arguing was real, it seemed, as he could still hear it clearly.

"What's going on?" mumbled Astrid sleepily. "Oh, is it that late already?" she added, noticing the bright sky.

"Yeah… it's okay, we don't have any jobs today," Oscar replied, kissing her lovingly. "But we still have a mess to clean up…" The paladin sighed and stood up, walking towards the door.

Meanwhile, mere feet away from the other side of said door, three beorc stood bickering. One was a young, black-haired girl pounding her fists, in vain, on the abdomen of a much taller, young man. Beside them stood another male beorc who was rubbing his temples, a look of defeat on his face.

"It's not yours! Give it back!"

"Shut up, shorty, you're gonna wake up Mom and Dad!"

"Too late for that," said Oscar as he stepped out of his room. The three youths turned immediately to face their slightly irritated father.

"Morning, Dad," Mikhael greeted politely, taking advantage of the distraction to grab something out of his twin's hand.

"Hey!"

"Here, Astraea," he said, handing over the small horse figurine to his little sister.

"Thank you, brother!" she chirped sweetly, hugging him before proceeding to embrace Oscar. "Morning, Daddy!"

"Good morning, Astraea," he replied, absently ruffling the fourteen year-old's hair. "Now, does anyway want to tell me why you're all yelling?"

"Mykola took my horse figurine!" Astraea exclaimed.

"I was just teasing her," Mykola replied with a shrug.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't," said Mikhael dryly.

"Yeah? But then I'd be as boring as you are."

"At least I have brains."

"Enough!" Oscar snapped, looking at his nineteen year-old sons with exasperation. The two of them were twins, though they neither acted nor looked the same. Mykola, the only one who had inherited his green hair, was brash, loud and… and just like Boyd when he was his age. He even wielded an axe… The younger twin, Mikhael, despite his dark hair and lack of a squint, looked very much like Oscar and they both had similar personalities (though Mikhael was a tad more vindictive…). He was calm, just and often the mediator in arguments. "Why don't you two go train? I'm sure that your horses could use a ride, too."

"Can't. Soren and Eyriol took them to pull the cart," replied Mykola.

"Oh, that's right. They were going to buy some supplies. Well, I'll sure you'll be fine without them, too."

"I was going to go do that anyway," said Mikhael, grabbing a bow that was propped against the wall.

"Of course you were. You're too stiff to do anything else. Wonder if Elena's busy? Maybe she'll spar against me," Mykola mumbled as he found his axe and followed his brother out the door. However, as he passed through the doorway, he let out a yelp as Mikhael 'accidentally' smacked him with his bow.

"I heard that."

Oscar let out a sigh as he ran a hand through his greying hair. How was it that the Goddess was cruel enough to give him children that behaved exactly like three certain brothers? It was like going through his life twice. Except worse. However, he was brought out of his reveries by a tug on his shirt sleeve.

"Sorry that we woke you, up, Dad," his daughter apologized, her big green eyes looking up at him. He smiled and knelt down, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"It's all right, sweetheart. I only wish that your brother would stop acting so childish," he replied, his mind straying to thoughts of his younger brother. Hopefully Mykola wouldn't take _quite_ as long as Boyd to mature. "Where did you get this anyway? I don't remember buying this for you."

"… Eyriol got it for me," she answered with a furious blush. Oscar relaxed, happy to know that he wasn't getting old enough to be senile, but this was immediately replaced by an alarm bell going off in his mind. Was she _blushing_?! "He said that he saw a travelling merchant and bought it from him. Isn't it pretty?"

"… Hmm, why don't you put it away and go see if Auntie Mist needs any help in the kitchen?"

"Okay. But don't forget that you said you'd practice the lance with me later!"

"Of course. After lunch, maybe."

Oscar watched his daughter leave and he couldn't help but frown. Was she already at that age? He quickly thought of Eyriol, Soren's apprentice, who was a polite, young man, though rather quirky. As a food connoisseur, he had to wince at the strange preferences of the young mage. Sometimes he wondered if he had proper taste buds. Well, he was better than Soren himself at least. The sage still seemed to hate everything.

Still slightly reeling from the blow of learning that his youngest child really wasn't that young anymore (which leads to the realization that he himself must be getting old), he went back into the room he shared with Astrid. Collapsing onto the bed and letting out a long sigh, he turned to regard his wife, who was seated on a nearby chair. Her hands worked a brush through her long, black hair that seemed to be free of grey despite her age. Every time he looked at her, he was still breath taken by her beauty. It still marvelled him that this former noble had thrown away everything to be with him.

"So, is everything okay now?" she asked, looking at him in the mirror.

"Yes. But I've just realized… I'm getting old. It's really rather depressing."

"Well, it just goes to show how long we've been together. How much we've overcome…"

"And there's _more_ to come, yet; especially concerning Astraea. It seems that Eyriol's caught her eye. I'm not too sure how _he_ stands, though. He's pretty… out of it, after all," Oscar said, rubbing his palms over his face.

Astrid couldn't help but laugh, as she found this whole situation quite strange. Twenty years ago, she wouldn't even have dreamt that this would all be possible. Here she was, free of Begnion's politics, married to a man she loved and living in not-quite-poverty.

Her parents had still not reconciled with her, which was the only thing that she did not like about her new life. Her siblings, surprised as they were at the time, had accepted her decision. However, her sisters could never visit her, though her brothers had once or twice, but they mostly stuck to sending letters and gifts once in a while. One day, maybe she would return to Begnion again, if only to show her parents their new grandchildren. They hadn't many in Begnion, since her sisters only had two children between them and her brothers had stayed single to this day. Perhaps when her parents, especially her mother, met Mykola, Mikhael and Astraea they could finally accept her decision.

Glancing out her window, she could see several figures. Mykola, leaning on his axe, was talking to a tall, dark green-haired girl about his age. She held a training sword and they were both laughing. Mykola and Elena got along very well, despite their different personalites. Elena greatly resembled Ike in manner, being blunt, fair and loyal. Then again, they _were_ cousins and had grown up together. A little farther from them, Mikhael was shooting at some targets quietly. She couldn't help but see bits of Elijah when she looked at her youngest son. How she missed her siblings.

"What are you thinking about?" Oscar asked, bringing her back to the present. His hands squeezed her shoulders gently and he followed her gaze out the window.

"Do you think they're ready to visit my parents yet? I was thinking of taking the boys a while back, but then I decided to wait until Astraea was older first."

"… If you want to, we can go any time. I'm not too keen on going back to Begnion again, but I know that it's important for you to reconcile with your parents. Especially since we don't know how much time they have left… Um, not that I'm saying I want them to die or anything…"

"Thank you," she replied with a laugh and Oscar kissed her softly.

"Dad! Dad!" Astraea called, stopping in the doorway before walking in. "Soren's back. He wants you to check if he got the right spices you asked for."

"Oh! I'd better go look then," Oscar immediately left the room, patting Astraea on the head before leaving.

"Good morning, Mother!" Astraea greeted, walking over to hug the seated woman. "Sorry I can't stay to talk. I told Soren and Eyriol that I would help them unload!"

"That's a good girl. It's good to be helpful," Astrid said with a smile, not missing the look that passed over her daughter's face when she mentioned Eyriol's name.

Returning the smile Astraea bolted out of the door and it wasn't long before Astrid could see her outside, stopping next to a large cart. Oscar was talking to Soren as he examined something, and she could see Elena and her sons helping to unload bags and boxes from the back. Astraea was now talking to a young man who was digging in the pockets of his robes. He then handed something to her which caused the young girl to hug him before carefully stowing it in her pocket.

Astrid smiled. It seemed that Oscar was right. Soren's apprentice was slowly, and judging by his personality, unwittingly making Astraea fall for him. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the fresh morning air and realized that even now, she did not regret her decision of nearly two decades ago. She realized that even if her parents still did not acknowledge her, she would be content nonetheless. For if she had obeyed their wishes and had not chosen her own fate, she didn't think she would've ever been as happy as she was right at that second.

* * *

It's been so long since I've started this that it's kind of amazing that's it's finally over. Hopefully, this was an ending that everyone enjoyed. I was originally going to write it all from Astrid's POV, but I just couldn't resist tormenting Oscar one last time.

Oscar: Thanks… I'm sure that the readers enjoyed it though, even though it's at MY expense.

FireEdge: Of course. Anyway, I had fun making up the kids and such. Oh, and sorry if I rambled on about them for too long, I couldn't help it. By the way, in case no one caught on, Elena is Mist and Boyd's eldest daughter. They have a son too, but he didn't show up. If you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask, since I was trying not to go too in-depth as not to lose track of the plot (not that there was much of a plot to begin with…).

So, I'm probably going to wait until I'm back from my trip at the end of this month before I start a new story, but I _will_ be starting a new one soon. It's going to be a HaarJill multi-chapter, so if they're your cup of tea, be on the lookout. Thanks for sticking with me for so long!

-FireEdge-

**P.S. I forgot to add this note here when I first uploaded it, but there is now a sequel one-shot of sorts to this story. It's listed as "Unfathomable" in my series of one-shots called _Everything in Between_. Please check it out if you want to see a bit more about the new generation of Greil's Mercenaries! (Also, check out my other one-shots there if you'd like. It's my experimental collection so lots of interesting stuff there!)**


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